Aneue
by sapphire11224
Summary: SMIY Usagi is now traveling through the feudal era of Japan with a surrogate daughter and a rare wolf and she's meeting characters who view her as a threat or an ally. She's already met Kouga, now what do you say will happen when she meets Sesshoumaru?
1. Chapter 1

Aneue 

Summary: After the battle with Chaos and with nobody left by her side, Usagi had decided to return to the life she once had in the past, not during Silver Millennium, but when she was reincarnated to be a crutch for a young boy, or rather a certain hanyou. Wishing to see the dear boy she loved as her very own younger brother, Usagi decides to travel back in time and gets whirled in the whole adventure with her surrogate brother and his friends…only nobody, but the hanyou, knows her relationship with him.

AN: My first attempt in this crossover and I'm almost finished with the whole story line! Please send your reviews!I really would like to read what your thoughts and comments are.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or InuYasha.

* * *

Ch1 

"I did it," Usagi whispered. Her uniform was completely tattered from the last battle she had and just recently finished. Her pale light purple skirt was ripped in certain places. There were scratches made from the sword her enemy carried in her white body suit as well with blood slowly seeping through; her ragged cape was ripped off of the attire. Patches of dirt had soiled everything from her metallic silver hair, her pale skin, to her unraveled uniform. Two large white feathered wings on her back were probably the only things that remained in tact, but from the way just seem to fall down, looking all dreary, made them seem like they were broken.

Her blue eyes glanced around her surroundings to see that life was slowly piecing themselves back together, forming a bigger picture of the puzzle. She stood in front of a barren wasteland with her bluish-silver eyes staring at her surroundings. There were traces of destroyed buildings lying around; the top of buildings lay a few feet from their foundations. Trees were rooted out of the ground and was scattered around with their withered leaves being blown in the air. In the battle between Chaos and her, they had managed to send every inhabitant, plants, humans and animals alike, into a deep slumber.

Using the last bit of her strength she had left to accelerate the revival of the earth. Now that battle is over, she had managed to bring everyone back…well, almost everyone. In order for her defeat Chaos and seal him away, every one of her sailor scouts had fused their star seeds together and joined it with hers, despite her protests and argument that they won't ever be reborn again because their souls are no longer separate because their souls are now combined into her.

"I won, but at what price?" Usagi asked herself, "The destruction of my best friends." She fell down to her knees as her golden blond hair had fallen out of its original style and was sprawled out on the floor. She covered her face with her hands. "That's not fair," she stated, "They did nothing to deserve this…nothing…so why them instead of me?"

"Because their time was up, musume-chan(1)," replied a wise voice in front of the kneeling girl.

Usagi glanced up to see the deceased lunarian queen gently combing her hand through her hair. "Okaa-san(2)," Usagi whispered.

Selenity's light lilac colored hair was put up in the style fit for the royalty of the lunarians. Her pale blue eyes caught sight of the trail of tears and gently wiped it up. "Serenity, they did what they did because that was what the fates decreed what must be done," the queen told her, "By sacrificing their souls to you, they were now able to break you free from destiny's bond."

"I would willingly do what destiny wants from me a hundred times if it means that the girls are with me," Usagi argued.

"Yes, but the real question is that would you be happy with your life if you do?" Queen Selenity asked.

"Of course I would!"

"No, you wouldn't."

Usagi stared at her mother and her blue eyes quickly reverted to the floor when she caught her mother's knowing stare. She bit her lip, as she knew full well that she would never be truly happy, knowing that every step and action she does is already chosen for her. Usagi closed her eyes tightly and wrapped her arms around her waist, shaking her head, she repeated, "I don't know," over and over again.

Selenity hugged Usagi tightly as she once had done when her beloved daughter never suffered any of the hardships she now went through. The queen pulled away slightly and caressed her daughter's cheek. "Serenity, there's something important I have to tell you, but I need to know if you would like to start your life over?" she asked.

Usagi's blue eyes widened at the thought of her memory being wiped clean of her dear and closest friends, but her mother's laugh calmed her fears. "I meant if you would want to go somewhere and live your life all over again. You won't have to be reborn again," Selenity said,

"I don't know," Usagi replied hesitantly, "I don't like the idea of going to a foreign land by myself." Every time she had gone to another area she wasn't familiar with, the girls had always been by her side, helping her and protecting her.

"Serenity." Usagi looked at her mother with uncertain eyes. "This land isn't foreign to you. After all, you've been there before." Selenity held her daughter's face in her hands and kissed the symbol of her royalty located on her forehead just below a multicolored star with a point of its own color symbolizing each of her senshis.

Usagi's blue eyes widened as flashes of a beautiful woman about the age of thirty with long silky black hair wearing an overflowing kimono with a young child wearing a red haori clinging to her side. The boy appeared to be human except he has long silvery hair with dog-ears on the top of his head. Another flashback revealed the same woman, only older, being buried with the child clinging onto her this time as he cried for his deceased mother. Memories of their time together brought a smile to Usagi's face, but a memory of her dying to protect him brought tears to her eyes.

Selenity released Usagi and watched as her daughter vaguely trembled. "Serenity, what will you do now?" the lunarian queen asked silently.

"Yasha-kun," Usagi whispered with a small smile on her face, "My dear hanyou(3)…my ototo-kun(4)." She closed her eyes to rid the tears that threaten to come out and reopened them as quickly as she shut them. "I want to see him."

"And he wishes to see you," Selenity whispered. "More than a hundred years had passed since that fateful day."

Usagi looked up to her mother. "Okaa-san, I just want to be there by his side. What if he's all alone? He might still need me?" she shouted frantically. Her blue eyes showing concern and fear.

Selenity placed her hand over the golden crescent moon on her offspring's forehead. The same golden colored light surrounded Usagi. When the light vanished, Usagi looked down to see her outfit had changed and all her wounds from the battle vanished. No longer was she wearing her ragged sailor uniform. This time she was wearing a simple pastel pink kimono that trailed down to her ankles with a white silk sash tied around her waist. Her golden hair was released with part of it tied into a bun at the back of her head, similar to Setsuna's hairstyle. Around her neck was a thin but strong chain with a golden heart shaped locket with the Ginsuisho(5) hidden inside. On her feet was a pair of wooden sandals that surprisingly are a lot more comfortable than they look.

Not only her clothes had changed, but also her age. Usagi was no longer a sixteen-year-old girl, but a young woman at a tender age of twenty-two, the very age she was when she had died. She had grown slightly taller, probably by a few inches. Her blonde hair grew a bit longer, trailing to her ankles rather than her knees. Even her body features had changed. In fact she could pass as Neo-Queen Serenity right at this moment, even without the fancy dress and tiara.

"Okaa-san, you sure put a lot of thought on the clothes," Usagi teased slightly. She looked up to see that not only her clothes, but also the scenery had changed. The light had also transported them back to the feudal era, but unfortunately Selenity had left them in the middle of a forest, rather than near any sign of civilization.

Selenity held a small brown pouch in her hands. She placed the strap over one shoulder and had it draped her chest and back diagonally until the sack rested against Usagi's waist on the side, reminding her of a purse she wore to go shopping with her friends. "Everything you need will be in here," she told her daughter. Before leaving her, Selenity gave Usagi one last embrace. "Good luck, mesume-chan. May Selene watch over you."

"Arigato, okaa-san," Usagi said, as she hugged her back.

"Remember, don't use any of your powers unless you really have to," Selenity reminded her. Usagi nodded her head. "Goodbye, my moonlight."

Usagi watched as her mother disappeared, leaving her alone in the vast woods. She took a deep breath and sighed. "All right, odango-atama(6), you're by yourself for this one," she whispered to herself, "The others aren't here to lead you by the hand anymore." Feeling as though the small pep talk might work, Usagi nodded her head and started walking on the trail to any direction. She doesn't know exactly where she is going, but it didn't matter to her. Her goal is to find her little brother, and being as stubborn and determined as he, she will find him. No matter where her journey takes her, she's sure that where it will end is where he is.

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(1) Musume-chan' means daughter

(2) Okaa-san means mother

(3) Hanyou means half-demon. Han meaning half and you coming from youkai, which means demon

(4) Ototo-kun means little brother

(5) Ginsuisho means silver crystal. Gin is the color silver and suisho means crystal. It's the crystal that holds Usagi's power and life, pretty much.

(6) Odango-atama means dumpling-head. It's the nickname given to Usagi based on her hairstyle.

AN: This is my first attempt on a Sailor Moon/InuYasha fanfic. So, how is this chapter? Is it good or bad? Please send your reviews after reading this chapter?


	2. Chapter 2

Aneue

AN: Arigato for the reviews. I was so happy to see that everyone who read it really liked it and I love reading about people's opinions. Please continue to send in your reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or InuYasha

_/Italicize/_-flashback

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Ch2 

A tall girl, who looked to be about eighteen of age, stood in a pale purple kimono as her red eyes stared out of the open window longingly. She had her short black hair pinned up. When she spotted a pair of small brown birds, the longing turned to envy. She listened as the two birds call to each other, to many the soft calling may seem sweet and wondrous, but it only brought a sick nauseous feeling to her.

"Kagura," a soft voice called from the rear.

The young woman turned around to see a much younger girl standing in the shadows but her white kimono and white hair helped distinguish her easily. Her empty black eyes appeared to be directed to some point behind Kagura, but her gaze revealed indifference in her target. She held onto a silver rimmed mirror rightly as if it was her only lifeline.

Kagura nodded her head as a sign of acknowledging her older 'sister'. "Kanna, what does that bastard want me to do this time?" she asked with venom in her tone.

Kanna ignore the hatred in the taller girl's tenor. "Our master wants you to find a way to weaken InuYasha and his friends," Kanna said in a soft tone with almost no emotion in her voice. She then turned around and walked with her mid-back snow white hair trialing behind her.

Kagura's right hand clenched tightly around the base of her fan as it lay by her side. "One day, I'll be free," she silently vowed as she glanced at the birds who didn't even know how lucky they were to have their own will and freedom. She quickly walked out towards to the empty courtyard to find someone who will aid her in her mission.

!-!

Usagi sat down on a big boulder beside a sparkling river and took a deep breath. She had been walking for a few hours when she had finally decided to take a small break. She stared at the bright blue waters of the brook with the soft gentle currents being guided by the soft breeze.

She searched through her bag and was pleased to see her mother think of everything. There was food that would last for a week, fresh change of clothes, along with things that would help keep her occupied and her mind off things. During her search, she happened upon a beautiful white kimono that she wouldn't mind wearing, only problem is, is that the kimono is for a bride to wear on her wedding day. Usagi arched an eyebrow at this discovery. A wedding kimono? She shook her head and sighed in defeat. Just what is her mother planning? Her goal is to find her little brother, not a husband. After getting a headache, she decided to continue on her search for food.

Taking out a small bag filled with onigiri(1), Usagi relaxed her entire body and made herself comfortable. She took out one and was about to take a bite when she heard someone scream, "Ah! Youkai(2)!"

Usagi stood up and looked around. "Youkai? Where?" She searched her surroundings and saw a young boy staring at her with wide eyes. She then noticed him pointing his finger at her. Usagi smiled nervously at him. "Um…I'm not a youkai."

The boy appeared to be nine years old. His light brown eyes studied her with uncertainty as if he was wondering whether or not she was lying. His dark brown hair was pulled upwards into a topknot. He slowly backed away, just in case she had decided to pounce on him. "How do I know that you aren't lying?" he asked.

Usagi lifted her hands to show him. "See, no claws." She brushed her hair back behind her ears. "And my ears are normal." She grinned at him and said, "I'm ningen(3) 100, but a lot of people assumed that I'm a youkai because of my hair and eye color."

The boy's posture relaxed as he sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, I thought I was about to be in trouble," he said. Then he shot up and bowed slightly. "Gomen ne, I was being rude to you."

"It's quite all right," Usagi said, laughing. She patted down on the boulder beside her. "Would you like something to eat?" she asked, holding out an onigiri towards him.

The boy shook his head stubbornly, but failed to hide his hunger when Usagi heard his stomach growl loudly. She giggled softly and motioned him to take the onigiri from her hand. As his face was flushed red, he slowly walked over and sat down beside her on the boulder. "Ne onee-sama, what is your name?"

"Onee-sama?" Usagi repeated. She shook her head with a smile on her face. "My name is Usagi," she said, lifting a rice-ball to her mouth.

"My name is Yusuke," the boy said happily. "I'm nine years old!" He licked his lips after he finished his snack as he eyed the onigiri in the small container in Usagi's hand shyly. Usagi just grinned and motioned him to take another one. A smile lit up on his face as he reached for another one. "Onee-sama, why are you walking by yourself? Okaa-san and otou-san said that it's dangerous because youkai can come and kill you."

Yusuke's statement brought up memories of the old days when children will come and believe the same thing about all the youkais being bad and evil.

_/ Usagi was twenty years old, the very age when women were to be already married and bearing children. However, due to the attitude of many suitors' suggestion to abandon or kill the hanyou she looks after, Usagi wanted nothing to do with men, who can't look beyond their own fears and prejudice. She was sitting right outside of her home by the river and was washing some vegetables to cook for dinner._

"_Onee-sama!" the children from the village shouted as they ran to her. Often time, kids would show up, but it's only whenever InuYasha wasn't around. After all, their teachers are their parents and they too had adopted their moms and dads' hatred for anything that deals with youkai._

"_Konnichiwa, minna-chan," Usagi said. Her blue eyes moved to her house where a toddler-like InuYasha was napping._

"_Onee-sama, why do you keep that hanyou around?" a boy asked._

"_Ha-ha(4) said that anything that has to do with youkai is bad," another boy said._

_Usagi watched as the rest of the group started to agree with them. Her blue eyes studied the new generation with sadness. She had been lucky to grow up with a family who has an open mind and held no prejudice towards anything that was not ningen. But these children had grown up with hatred for anything and anyone who is different, and with each step they take, the odium just grows bigger and bigger. And not only humans think like that, there are youkai all around who hate humans and hanyous for being weak and vulnerable._

_Usagi closed her eyes and hoped to find a way to actually vanquish the hatred and misunderstandings between the three races and unite them together, just as her family had strived to do. "Youkai," she began, causing the children's talking to cease, "are not that different from us ningen. We all need to eat, sleep, and fight to survive in this world. The only thing that separates us is the fact that they can live longer, look a bit different, and are a lot stronger than us."_

_The small group of children stared at Usagi, almost as if they had never given it any thought before. "Youkai are born as infants and eventually they grow up and start their own families. They fall in love, feel protective towards their love ones, and mourn if someone close dies. Just as we kill them because they attack us, they kill us because we attack them. And remember when I said that not all ningens are good?" The children nodded their heads in unison. "Well, not all youkai are bad." /_

"Onee-sama, daijobu?(5)" Yusuke asked, gripping onto Usagi's sleeve gently and tugging it.

Usagi shook her head and just smiled at the worried boy. "Daijobu(6), Yusuke-kun," Usagi said. She glanced over to the river, as a fish jumped up into the air and back into the water, almost like a dolphin performing in an aquarium she once went to with her parents when she was younger. "Yusuke-kun, you know that there are ningen that are good and that there are those who are bad, right?" she asked. Not understanding where she's going with her argument, Yusuke nodded his head; the miko(7) back in his village had warned them all about the darkness that surrounds the hearts of humans, making them evil. "And just as ningen are good and bad, there are youkai that are good and bad."

!-!

Kagura was standing outside of a cave situated on a cliff that overlooks a deep narrow canyon. At the bottom of the canyon was a fast current river that would most likely drown any youkai or ningen that falls in. "Shinji, I wish for your assistance," she said.

Soft footsteps echoed through the cave as the figure in the shadows took his time to reach the outsides of the cave. He was an elderly looking youkai with a hunched back and almost the same features as a human. He had a black blindfold wrapped over his nonexistent eyes. Long shaggy strands of gray hair reached the middle of his back and a long gray streaked beard hung at the bottom of his chin and reached towards his waist. He wore a white robe that reached to the ground with patches of dirt and soil splattered all over. "Ah, Kagura," Shinji said in a wispy voice, "What service can I do for you?"

"I wish for a potion so I can render a certain hanyou weak," Kagura replied, "Preferably one that would last a long time or forever."

Shinji thought about the request silently. "I might have something," he said after a few minutes of thinking as he turned his head to the cave and headed back to the cavern. When he stood right outside of the opening, he turned his head back to Kagura. "However, there's a cure to reverse the process," he warned. He slowly walked back into the dark cavern. "It requires a kiss from someone from his or her childhood, but if there is no one left, then they will remain in their weakened state for all eternity."

"Perfect," Kagura said with a sneer, "Everyone from InuYasha's childhood is dead and Sesshoumaru would rather die than help, or even kiss, his hanyou brother."

Shinji came back with a small orange-colored clay figure. It kind of resembled a doll that children from villages would play with. "Just throw this at your opponent and watch," he instructed as he handed the doll to her.

Kagura took the doll into her right hand as her left hand held onto her fan. Her red eyes studied it carefully. "So all you have to do is throw it," she said skeptically. She grinned at the old demon. "Arigato(8) for your assistance, Shinji." She turned around and slowly walked away, leaving the demon behind.

!-!

Usagi cupped some water into her hand and brought it to her lips, quenching her thirst. She drained it dry leisurely and sighed softly. "Onee-sama, is there someone you're looking for?" Yusuke asked. Usagi glanced at the young boy, whose face was somewhat flushed from her attention. "It's just that you're out here by yourself and I know you're not from around here because of your hair color."

"You're correct about that, Yusuke-kun," Usagi said as she glanced up into her air to see a mother bird teaching her young ones how to fly. "I'm looking for someone very important to me."

"Honto(9)?" Yusuke asked excitedly. "Are you looking for your husband, onee-sama?"

Usagi's face flushed into a deep cherry red color as she quickly shook her head. "Iie(10)! I'm not even married yet." Yusuke's reaction relaxed a bit as he listened carefully. "He is someone very dear to me, though. I had to go away for a little while and when I came back, he was gone."

Yusuke's brown eyes watched as Usagi's face grew sad, like she was about to cry. His face slowly became depressed, almost as if her emotions trigger the same feelings in him. "Onee-sama," he whispered softly. Jumping to the side, he hugged the young woman tightly, wrapping his arms around her waist. He lifted his face up and smiled brightly. "Onee-sama, what is his name?" he asked, "Maybe I know him and then I'll tell him that you're looking for him."

Usagi stared at the smiling boy and couldn't help but feel her lips curl upwards into a smile at his optimism. "Arigato, Yusuke-kun," she said softly. He hugged him back and kissed him on his forehead. "You're a very sweet child." Her compliment made his chest swell up with pride. "His name is…InuYasha."

"InuYasha?" Yusuke's head tilted to the side as he thought about the name. "There's a hanyou who stays in our village with the same name."

Usagi's blue eyes widened. "A hanyou? Does he have long silver hair with dog ears on top and wears a red haori?" Usagi asked.

Yusuke nodded his head. "Why don't you come with me? He could still be there, unless he went on one of those journeys he takes to gather the Shikon shards," he said, standing up and grabbed her hand. Without even waiting for a reply, he just dragged Usagi up the road to a poor but humble looking village. As he pulled her along, he told her the whole story of why InuYasha had to go on a journey and the purpose of the Shikon no tama.

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(1) 'Onigiri' means rice-ball

(2) 'Youkai' means demon

(3) 'Ningen' means human

(4) 'Ha-ha' is another word for mother

(5) 'Daijobu?' means are you okay?

(6) 'Daijobu' means I'm fine

(7) 'Miko' means a virgin priestess

(8) 'Arigato' means thank you

(9) 'Honto' means really

(10) 'Iie' means no


	3. Chapter 3

Aneue

AN: Here is chapter 3 and the scene of InuYashaand his friends. Please read and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or InuYasha

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Ch3

A small group of travelers walked through a trail in a dense forest. One would often take one glance at the group and think it's a strange arrangement of travelers. After all, it's quite unusual to see such diversity among voyagers, especially in a time period when one would be wary of one another during an era of war and prejudice to those that are different.

Kagome is a fifteen-year-old senior of a junior high school from the future. The top of her brown eyes was slightly covered by her wavy black hair. Unlike Kikyou, who has straight black hair that's tied in a low loose ponytail that falls down to her waist, Kagome's black hair appears to be slightly wavy and reached a bit below her mid-back. People would often mistaken her as a youkai due to her school uniform, a long sleeved white shirt with a green sailor collar and cuffs at the bottom of her shirt with a red ribbon tied in the front and her short green skirt.

Miroku is a young monk that's about the age of nineteen or twenty. His short black hair was tied into a small ponytail that rests on the nape of his neck. On his right ear there is a single gold earring and on his left are two earrings. His bluish-gray eyes held a gentle wisdom in them, but also a tint of craftiness in them. He donned on dark blue monk robes with a golden staff held in his right hand where a string of beads were wrapped around it to seal the kazaana(1) that was placed there by his enemy.

Sango is a sixteen-year-old taijiya(2), and despite her age, she is one of the best from her village. She is also the last of her people, unless you count her younger brother, Kohaku, who is under Naraku's control. Her long black was tied into a loose ponytail that is brought high up when she's battling a youkai, so she won't risk having it in the way. She wore a purple and white kimono with a blue cloth tied around her neck that holds her mask in it and a green apron-like cloth tied around her waist straight down. And underneath this everyday outfit, she was wearing a uniform as a taijiya, a tight black outfit with pink padding on her shoulders, her elbows, knees, and chest. Strapped to her back was her Hiraikotsu, a giant boomerang made from the bones of a youkai, and her katana that's strapped to her waist.

Walking beside Sango was Kirara, a small two-tailed fire cat demon. She was a pale yellow with a black ring around each tail, black ears and paws. She has huge red eyes with a large black diamond located between her eyes on her forehead. But this cat doesn't stay small for long, whenever her friends need her held, she'll transform into a form similar to a big saber-tooth tiger.

There was also Shippo, who is a child-like kitsune(3) youkai. Shippo has reddish-auburn colored hair that's tied into a high ponytail with a blue ribbon with a tan colored puffy tail. His turquoise colored eyes revealed his child-like personality, which goes with his five-year-old personality that contradicts his fifty-year age. He wore dark blue pants with a lighter blue shirt with leave prints on them and a tan vest over his shirt.

And last but not least, InuYasha, the hotheaded arrogant hanyou of the group. His long silver hair was accompanied with two dog-ears on the top of his head. His golden eyes studied his surroundings with a sign of annoyance and resentment. He wore a red hoari with wide sleeves and wide pants. The sword, Tetsusaiga, was strapped to his waist and appeared to look like a rusty sword that would ultimately transform whenever he gets dragged into a battle.

InuYasha was racing further ahead of everyone else. He glanced back to the group, who was taking their time walking. "Hey, Kagome, ya sense any shards yet?" he asked.

Kagome stopped walking and closed her eyes as she concentrated on their environment. She then shook her head and replied, "There's no shards around us so far."

Shippo fell to the floor and started to massage his swollen fox-like feet. "I'm tired, Kagome. Can we stop for a break?" he asked in a small whine.

"I suppose so," Kagome replied. Her brown eyes glanced at her other friends, almost as if she wants to know what they think.

"We have been walking for a while," Sango added. She glanced up into the sky and said, "And besides, it's getting late."

InuYasha glanced up at the now darkening sky. His golden eyes then averted towards his friends and watched as they all settled down besides the trees. He watched as Kagome started to cook some food for the hungry journeyers. The harshness in his eyes softened as an image of an older woman with overflowing sun-kissed hair took her place. "Aneue(4)," he whispered softly.

Kagome looked up to see a dejected looking InuYasha staring at her. She grew worried for this was the first time she had truly seen the confident hanyou look so hopeless. She smiled softly at him. "Here, InuYasha," she said, lifting a cup of steaming ramen for the hanyou to take, "You should eat something."

InuYasha blinked at the image as it vanished and revealed Kikyou's reincarnation instead. He turned around and said stubbornly, "I'm not hungry."

Shippo slurped the long pieces of ramen into his mouth. "But you were complaining about being hungry before," he said with a childish innocence in his voice.

InuYasha turned his head and glared at the small kitsune and shouted, "Well, I'm not hungry anymore."

"InuYasha, there's no need to shout," Miroku said, drinking tea from a green colored can. "You've been acting strange all day. Is something bothering you?"

InuYasha glanced ahead of him and stared down onto the ground. "Yasha-kun, look out!" a female voice said right before she screamed out in pain. His eyes reflected a form of sadness as he listened to the agonizing scream ringing in his head. "Tomorrow is the day," he whispered.

"The day for what?" InuYasha looked down to see Shippo holding onto a round lollipop that's bigger than his head. "What's so special about tomorrow?" the fifty-year-old fox asked.

"None of your business, gaki(5)," InuYasha shouted. He punched the boy on the head, causing him to drop his candy on the ground. He growled in annoyance as he tried to ignore the loud ringing sobs for the dirt covered candy and because of a swelling with the size of an orange on his head.

Kagome frowned at the two-hundred year old hanyou's attitude. "There's no need to be mean, InuYasha. Shippo was just asking a question," she said, walking over to the two with her hands on her hips.

InuYasha glared angrily at Kagome. "Urusai(6)!" he shouted, all signs of weakness or kindness was gone. Kagome stared in shock at his outburst. Sango and Miroku looked at each other and silently wondered what brought the aggravated behavior of the half dog demon. "You don't understand anything so just mind your own business," he yelled as he leaped up into the tree.

"I wonder if there's something bothering him," Sango said when Kagome carried the hiccupping Shippo back to them. "Tomorrow's not the day he becomes a ningen, so what could it be?"

"Maybe something in his past," Miroku brought up. "Why don't we set up camp here since it looks like he won't budge from his spot?" His friends nodded their heads at his suggestion and started to get their camp ready for the night.

Up in the tree towering over the campers, InuYasha watched as his friends laid down to get comfortable for their night rest. "Hmph," he scoffed, as if he didn't care about what they thought about him. He stared up into the sky to see the stars sparkling brightly, just as they had always done, with the bright round moon's light shining down on him. The dazzling lights coming from each star seemed to be brighter than the ones before it, almost as if they were trying to give him strength for tomorrow…for the anniversary of his beloved sister's death. "Aneue," he whispered quietly as he pulled his knees close to his chest and rested his chin on top. He sighed softly, "I miss you."

!-!

Kagura watched the slight disagreement between the friends. She held out her hand and stared at the clay doll she planned to use. "Hmm…I wonder what'll happen if I throw it," she mused silently. She then headed over to the campsite on the giant feather she flies on with determination on her face.

!-!

InuYasha's ears twitched as he heard a slight rustling in the leaves of the trees around him. He lifted his head up and sniffed the area when a sickening familiar smell hit him. "Shimatta(7)!" he shouted. He then leapt down from the tree and shouted, "Everyone, wake up! Kagura's here!"

Heads shot up as everybody scrambled to their feet. Sango grasped her Hiraikotsu tightly as Kirara transformed from a small harmless kitten to a ferocious saber-tooth cat. Kagome grabbed her bow and arrows and readied one arrow into position. Shippo hid behind Miroku as the monk grabbed the prayer beads wrapped around his right hand.

"Look what the dog dragged in," Kagura said as she leaped down to the ground from the giant feather. Her red eyes watched InuYasha as he stood in front of Kagome and thought of a plot. "You better protect your friends as long as you can, InuYasha…because I'm gonna make you weak forever," she said, rushing out in full speed.

InuYasha grabbed the hilt of his sword. The rusted blade then transformed into a gigantic curved blade in his hands. "I don't think so, Kagura," he shouted, bringing his prized sword out in hand. He was about to rush out to attack when his sharp eyes caught an offensive movement.

With a flick of her wrist, Kagura opened up her fan and grinned sardonically, as if she was enjoying herself. With one swing of the fan, sharp glowing blades swung with the strong currents towards the inu-tachi. "Shi-ne(8), InuYasha!" she yelled.

InuYasha turned his body and pulled Kagome into his arms. The minute he felt her body connect with his, he used his feet to push against the ground and jumped high into the air. The moment his feet left the ground, the attacks crashed into the ground, sending clouds of dust into the air. Everybody quickly rushed out of the way to escape the debris. InuYasha released Kagome on the floor and jumped back into the air with the sword held high above his head.

The ends of Kagura's lips twitched and slowly lifted up as the hanyou came closer. InuYasha saw the smile…no the smirk and gave her one of his own. "Ya finally cracked or something, Kagura? Why the hell ya smiling for?" he shouted confidently.

"Actually, I'm smiling because…my plan's coming together," she said and with each word, her voice grew louder. Using her fan, she forced the silver-haired hanyou to the side into the trees with a strong flow of the wind. "You're mine now, Kagome!" Kagura said, tossing the clay doll towards the frozen girl.

Miroku and Sango quickly rushed to help their friend, only to be pushed back by huge bodies of youkais. When they saw the lifeless look in their eyes and the stench of rotting flesh rose to their noses, they came to the conclusion that they were just corpses that Kagura was controlling. Miroku made a movement to remove the prayer beads when they heard the buzzing sounds of the poisonous bees flying among the trees and hiding in the darkness with only their red eyes revealing where they were. Instead, Miroku resorted to using his staff as Sango held tightly onto her boomerang. In a synchronized manner, the two ningens started to attack the corpses.

InuYasha's eyes widened. The doll may appear to be harmless, but knowing Naraku, nothing is as it seems. Just as he was about to crash right into the tree, he maneuvered his body. When his feet connected with the bark of the tree, he kicked against it and pushed himself towards Kagome's direction. "Kagome, look out," he shouted as he landed on his feet in front of her.

The doll ran smack into InuYasha and exploded into a cloud of murky orange dust, covering his body from view. Kagura couldn't help but release a laugh full of glee. "Let's see the magic, shall we," she said anxiously with her red lips parted in a smile.

"Kagome-chan, daijobu?" Sango shouted as she raced toward her after Kagura released her hold over the carcasses.

"Kagome-sama, where's InuYasha?" Miroku asked as he followed the taijiya.

"Sango-chan, Miroku-sama," Kagome called out. Her brown eyes turned to the particular place in front of her where the cloud of smoke lingered. "InuYasha…he's still…"

"Kagura, what the fuck was that all about?" a familiar, but, at the same time, strange voice shouted. Several pairs of eyes stared at the figure emerging from the haze; one pair was anxious while the others were worried. When the smoke finally cleared, nobody was prepared for what they saw.

Apparently there was nothing missing. He still had his golden brown eyes with the long silver hair against his back. He also had the dog ears on the top of his head. He was still wearing the red haori he wore since he was little. All in all, he looked exactly the same as he did a minute ago…only he was shrunk down to the same size as Shippo.

"I…InuYasha?" Kagome called out hesitantly.

"Nani, Kagome?" he asked in the same obnoxious tone he still possesses. He turned around and shouted in surprise as he fell over on his rear. "Why the hell have you guys grown taller?" he shouted in his 'it's-not-fair' tone.

"InuYasha, we're not the ones who grew taller," Sango said slowly, not sure if they should tell him what had happened. Not that they understood what had happened. Her brown eyes glanced over at Miroku, who shrugged his shoulders.

And Shippo, being the innocent and oblivious child he is, walked over to the brooding InuYasha. He used his hand and measured the hanyou's height against him. "Hey, InuYasha, you're just as tall as I am," he announced with a big smile on his face.

InuYasha turned to see Shippo's big wide turquoise eyes a few inches away from his. "AHHHHH!" he shouted. He jumped back and stared down at his small hands. "What the hell? I'm a little kid!" he shouted.

Kagura laughed as she watched in amusement. "Aww…don't you just look adorable as a child, InuYasha?" she cooed. She watched with a wide smile on her face at a vein popping up on his forehead.

InuYasha grew annoyed as he listened to the cooing from Kagura. Just what is it with all his enemies making him upset? It seems as if they were all just asking him to kill them. "Keh, just because you shrunk me into the size of a kid, it doesn't mean that I can't beat you!" InuYasha said, grabbing the Tetsusaiga. It was quite comical to see a kid, who looked to be about the age of five, grab a rusty sword that was about twice his height. However, when the blade transformed, the weight appeared to be too heavy as the blade fell downward and became embedded into the soil and InuYasha was lifted up into the air, holding onto the handle, as if he was riding on a seesaw. "Nani? What the hell is going on?" he shouted as he dangled from the handle with his feet swinging back and forth.

Kagura took her feather from her hair and tossed it up. She jumped onto the feather and glanced down at the yelling hanyou. "Well now, it seems like not only do you look like a child, but you have the strength of a child as well," she said, "I'll be merciful and leave you alone for now, InuYasha, but I'm warning you, the next time we meet, I won't show you mercy."

InuYasha kept his grip firm on the hilt of his sword and tried to pick it up stubbornly. His feet swung back and forth as he tried in vain to use his body to help him lift the sword. "Matte(9), Kagura! Come back here and reverse this crap right now!" he shouted.

"Amazing even with his appearance, he still sounds like the old InuYasha," Miroku said, watching with his lips slightly twitching.

Kagome stared with an annoyed look on her face as a string of curses ran from the child-like InuYasha. "InuYasha…" The silver-haired hanyou tilted his head back to see Kagome staring at him with irritated eyes. "Osuwari(10)," came the hated word which would always force him to pummel straight to the ground. Normally, InuYasha would lift his soiled face up from the dirt and start yelling at Kagome. However, this time, the minute he collided with the ground, he remained facedown on the floor with his eyes closed and his breathing steady.

Shippo walked over to InuYasha and poked him hesitantly on the back. When he was sure that he wouldn't get up, Shippo glanced back to Kagome and said, "He's unconscious."

"Maybe the osuwari was a bit too strong for him, Kagome-sama," Miroku said, "Let's take him to Kaede-sama. Perhaps she can reverse this spell."

Kagome nodded her head and lifted InuYasha into her arms as Shippo jumped onto her shoulder. "Let's go, minna-chan," she said.

* * *

(1) 'Kazaana' is Miroku's air void in his right hand.

(2) 'Taijiya' is a youkai extinguisher or demon exterminator

(3) 'Kitsune' is a fox

(4) 'Aneue' is another form for older sister. Kohaku calls Sango the same way.

(5) 'Gaki' is a brat

(6) 'Urusai' pretty much means InuYasha complaining about them being noisy or annoying or he could be telling them to shut up.

(7) 'Shimatta' means damn it

(8) 'Shi-ne' means die, almost in a commanding way

(9) 'Matte' means wait

(10) 'Osuwari' means sit, which, all of us InuYasha fans know, is Kagome's favorite word to punish InuYasha

AN: So, was Kagura's plan a big surprise? I love the idea of InuYasha becoming a small child again. He just looks so cute as a child. Did you like this chapter? Please send your reviews.


	4. Chapter 4

Aneue 

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or InuYasha

AN: There are those who are wondering who Usagi is gonna be paired up with, I'm afraid you're just gonna have to wait. I'll try to include all the major characters before mentioning anything that deals with the coupling. So just enjoy and tell me what you think about this chapter.

* * *

Ch4 

Naraku's red eyes stared deeply into Kanna's mirror. He silently wondered what could be Kagura's plan of action. From what he had gathered, Kagura had gone to a blind youkai and received a simple clay doll. As curious as he was to what the point the toy was used for, he was slightly upset with the confused look on Kagura's face as she studied the doll. He watched with a bored look on his face and sighed. He leaned his back against the wall and glanced down to the floor.

"Naraku-sama," Kanna said softly, "Look."

Naraku glanced back up to see that Kagura had thrown the doll to Kagome, causing the hanyou he detested to jump in the way. A cloud of orange colored dust surrounded InuYasha when the doll made contact with him, preventing everyone, including Kanna, from seeing what had happened. After a few minutes, the cloud dispersed and in its place was a toddler-like InuYasha. He lifted a black eyebrow at Kagura's method of making his enemy weak. But when he caught sight of InuYasha trying to attack Kagura with the Tetsusaiga, only to make himself unable to attack and in a vulnerable position, a small smile of amusement rose up on his face.

!-!

"Kaede-baachan(1)," Kagome shouted, holding an unconscious InuYasha. She raced into the small modest–looking hut where the aged miko lives. Her friends quickly followed behind her.

Kaede was an old lady, about the age of sixty, with gray hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore a black eye patch over her left eye with nothing concealing her wise brown eye on the right. She wore the traditional outfit for a miko, a loose white shirt that resembles the top of a robe, and wide red kimono pants.

Kaede was stirring a pot of soup when she glanced up from it. "Kagome, what happened?" Kaede asked, after taking one look at the sleeping hanyou.

"Kagura threw something at him and he just came out this way," Miroku said, "Kaede-sama, can you help him?"

Kaede stared deeply into thought as everyone stared anxiously. "Kaede-sama!" children's voices were heard. Everyone turned their heads to the doorway and saw about three children from the village peering in.

"What's the matter?" Kaede asked, wondering if there was a rogue youkai around, "Did something happen?"

A boy shook his head and smiled. "Onee-sama said that we can come and pick herbs with her if we ask you," he said.

"Kaede-sama, can you go with onee-sama?" a girl asked.

Kaede's old boy relaxed when she heard that it wasn't a youkai problem. She nodded her head. "You may go, but make sure that you listen to her."

"Hai!" the children all cheered. Giggling, they ran in the same direction, shouting, "Onee-sama!" over and over again.

"I haven't' seen them this happy before," Miroku said, wondering what kind a person this onee-sama is. Or better yet, wondering if she was beautiful and whether or not she would be willing to bear his children.

"Onee-sama?" Kagome repeated. She glanced over at the old miko. "Who is 'onee-sama'?" she asked.

"Let go of me, Kagome!" Everyone looked at the hanyou to see that he was finally awake. He pushed himself out of her arms and jumped to the floor. "Why were you carrying me around like a baby for?"

Kagome smiled nervously at the embarrassed and glaring hanyou. "Well…you fell unconscious so I had to carry you to get to Kaede-baachan for help," she replied, pushing her two pointer fingers against each other.

"I fell unconscious?" InuYasha said, staring at Kagome with a 'give-me-a-break' look. "Whose fault do you think it is if I was knocked out? You were the one who shouted, 'Osuwari'!"

Sango watched as the two started to argue once again. She leaned over to Miroku and whispered, "It's like nothing changed between them."

Miroku nodded his head and whispered back, "Especially the part when InuYasha gets Kagome-sama upset and then…"

"OSUWARI!" Kagome shouted, interrupting the monk.

Kaede watched as InuYasha hit the floor with a yelp and all was silent. As InuYasha had said, the command does knock him out, especially now since he was in a child-like form. She sighed deeply and went to her stirring in the pot. "Kagome, put InuYasha on the blankets over there. I'm sure she won't mind if he uses it," she directed the teen to a laid out blanket against the wall in the corner. "Now, why don't you eat some of this and tell me what happened."

Kagome did as Kaede had told her. When she tucked him in, she watched as he snuggled against the covers. She smiled gently and left him alone, silently musing that this was the first time she had seen him actually under blankets.

InuYasha breathed deeply and inhaled a scent he had never forgotten, no matter how long it had been since he had smelled it before. "Haru(2)…hana(3)…" he thought silently as his eyes opened slightly before shutting them again, "Aneue…"

Kaede handed Kagome a bowl of warm soup and went on listening to Miroku telling her the events that had happened. When Sango asked if the spell could be reversible, Kaede shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Something like this must've been a really powerful spell and it may take a while until I could find a cure."

Shippo quickly drank the last gulp of soup and sighed happily. "This is delicious, Kaede-baachan." He lifted his bowl up and silently asked for another seving.

"Arigato, Shippo, but I didn't make it," Kaede said, with a warm smile, "But I'll be sure to tell her that you like it."

"Her?" Sango repeated.

"A young boy from the village found a woman by the road and brought her to the village. At first we all thought that she was a youkai, what with that ethereal look around her. But the child told us that she wasn't a youkai and that she was looking for someone," Kaede said, "We allowed her to stay for the night and as long as she needs. All the children adore her and just started to call her 'one-sama'."

Miroku rubbed the bottom of his chin in silence. "I wonder what she looks like," he mused as Kagome and Sango stared at him suspiciously.

Kaede heard laughter coming closer to the house. "Well, why don't you see for yourself?" she suggested, staring at the doorway.

Everyone followed her gaze as they heard a sweet voice saying, "Arigato, minna-chan. Why don't you head back to eat and then we'll do something later," and a bunch of younger voices cheering, "Hai, onee-sama!"

The thin straw mat covering the doorway was pushed aside and a beautiful woman walked into the hut. Long blond hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and nearly trailed on the dirt ridden ground. She had wide blue eyes with thick black eyelashes that caress her cheek each time she blinked. She wore a light blue kimono that trailed down to her ankles with the sleeves ending at her elbows. She held a basket filled with green herbs against her waist.

"Ah, Usagi, I take it that you've gathered enough herbs for your journey," Kaede said with a warm smile, the same smile a mother would give to her daughter or granddaughter.

Usagi nodded her head. "Hai, Kaede-baachan," she said with a grin. She giggled at the memory of that morning. "We decided to make the harvesting into a game; whoever gets the most, wins." Her blue eyes caught sight of the travelers. "Kaede-baachan, who are they?"

InuYasha's ears twitched when he heard Usagi talked and opened his eyes slowly. "Aneue?" he whispered so softly that no one had heard it. He lifted his head up quickly and stared at Usagi with wide eyes. She was exactly as he remembered…as he had seen her last; from the long blond hair to her bright blue eyes. There was the same gentle kindness in her voice and aura and the warm sweet smile as she welcomed his friends.

"May I ask the fair maiden for her name?" Miroku asked. He smiled kindly at her as he grasped her hands and felt pleased to discover that her hands were smooth and warm.

"U…Usagi?" InuYasha called out loud, interrupting the girl from speaking. She may look like her, but if it turns out that they had different names then… The tiny strand of doubt was immediately clipped when Usagi turned her head and gasped when she saw him. Tears started to arose in his golden eyes as he caught sight of recognition in her eyes. It's her…he doesn't know how exactly…but it's her, back from the dead. "Usagi!" he shouted, running to her.

"Yasha-kun," Usagi whispered. A teardrop collided down her cheek as she watched the young hanyou practically glowing with happiness. He's here…she found him…and he's safe and sound. If possible, her smile became even brighter as she kneeled down and opened her arms wide open.

Everyone watched in complete silence as InuYasha fell against Usagi, wrapping his arms around her neck, as she embraced him to her chest. But what shocked them the most was the fact that InuYasha had started to cry and she allowed the tears to fall and damp the front of her kimono.

"You're here," InuYasha whispered. He buried his face deeper in the corner where her neck and shoulders connected. He breathed in the scent he missed and was forced to wait until the season of spring comes. "I thought that…" Usagi stopped his sentence as she quieted him in that gentle way she had always done whenever he woke up from a nightmare. Afraid that she was only here to see him one last time and then she'll leave him forever again, just as his mother had done, InuYasha tightened his hold onto the girl. "Gomen…gomen nasai, aneue," he said softly, only letting the words reach his and her ears.

Usagi laughed and pulled away slightly to see the hanyou's face. She brushed her hand through his bangs. "I told you before that it wasn't your fault," she said, "I chose to do that, Yasha-kun." Smiling gently, she leaned her face closer and kissed him on his forehead.

Jaws dropped to the ground as eyes widened and they watched the scene in disbelief for different reasons. Sango and Kagome were shocked to see this unfamiliar habit being portrayed by InuYasha. Kaede brushed it off and figured that he was the one Usagi had been searching for. Shippo and Kirara glanced curiously at Miroku, who was muttering how lucky InuYasha is able to hug the beautiful woman but also for how foolish he was for not taking advantage of the closeness.

Sango and Kagome heard his statement and glared at him; they made a movement to bash his head in when a bright light enveloped itself around InuYasha, who continued to hold Usagi in his embrace, not knowing what was happening. Silence loomed around the room as the hanyou started to grow back to his original size.

InuYasha's eyes widened as he stared at his hands in shock. He stood up quickly and started to examine himself to see that he no longer looked like a child. Usagi also studied InuYasha in silence as she figured that he had indeed grow older in the past hundred or so years.

"InuYasha, what happened?" Shippo asked, "You're taller than me now."

InuYasha didn't answer, but just continued to examine himself and make sure that none of this was a dream. He was no longer a child and his beloved sister was in front of him. He looked up to see Usagi smiling at him, as if she was proud of all of his accomplishments he had done while she was gone. Wanting to know exactly what was going on, InuYasha brought Usagi close to his body, and he lifted her up into the air and started to run towards the woods. "Don't even think about following," he warned his friends, namely those who made it their habit to spy on him.

* * *

(1) 'Kaede-baachan' means Grandmother Kaede 

(2) 'Haru' means spring

(3) 'Hana' means flower

AN: And this chapter is finished! So, how was this chapter? I know I made it where InuYasha was a child for a short amount of time, but I wanted him to be a child when he meets up with Usagi again. If you were wondering on the whole history behind the hanyou and the princess, I'm afraid that you'll have to wait a little while longer.


	5. Chapter 5

Aneue 

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or InuYasha

AN: Thank you for all the reviews! I'm so happy to hear that you like this story. (eyes start tearing) Oh no! I think I'm going to cry! Read this chapter and tell me what you think while I go and try to stop crying. Oh, and beware of a surprise at the end of this chapter.

* * *

Ch5 

InuYasha stopped running and stared at the forests around him. He stared down at Usagi, who was still cradled in his arms. He looked back up and walked to the wooden well in the middle of the tall grass. "Aneue, why did you come back?" he asked as he placed her gently beside the Bones Eater Well.

Usagi looked up at the young hanyou and smiled playfully. "Oh, do you mean that you didn't want to see me?" she asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Of course not!" InuYasha shouted, "How could you even think that?" He stared at her and apologized softly when he caught her looking at him curiously. "Aneue, how did you…the last time I saw you, you passed away!" InuYasha said. He then paused and scratched his head as he added weakly, "Or…did you somehow survive the past hundred years?"

Usagi laughed at his puzzlement. "Yasha-kun, you know that ningens can't live for a hundred years, just as a youkai could. Especially with the injury I got," she said. She patted the patch of grass next to her, signaling him to sit. "But I do have a story to tell you," she said.

InuYasha sat down in front of Usagi. He crossed his legs with his sword situated between his legs, leaning against his shoulder. His curiosity started to peak as he grew interested. He was slightly confused at the fact that after her death, she was in fact reincarnated, but hey, Kikyou was reincarnated as Kagome, so what say does he have. He was upset at hearing about the story of Silver Millennium where someone even had the nerve to hurt his sister, but he was even more surprised to find out that she was in fact a princess and the last of an ancient race whose powers and intelligence was considered legendary. InuYasha watched in sadness as he listened to the harsh life she had led with the constant fighting and the deaths of her friends, but he was proud to know that she still remained strong despite everything.

!-!

"Ne, Kaede, how did Usagi manage to make InuYasha big again?" Shippo asked, staring at the age worn miko with wide eyes.

"I don't know," Kaede replied, as she grinded some herbs Usagi had brought in. "Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Usagi-chan knowing InuYasha somewhere in the past."

Kagome looked out of the doorway at the setting sun. "I wonder where those two could be," she said, "It's getting really late."

"Don't worry about it, Kagome-chan," Sango said, petting Kirara, who was curled up in her lap, "If anything bad happens, InuYasha can protect Usagi-san."

"Though I do wonder how InuYasha and Usagi know each other," Miroku said, scratching his head, "Ever since he woke up from Kikyou-sama's sealing, he's been with us. And InuYasha have been sealed for fifty years."

"That's right," Sango said, after thinking it over, "Usagi-san appears to be about twenty-years-old." Her brown eyes turned to Kaede and asked, "Are you sure that she isn't a youkai?"

"She doesn't smell like a youkai," Shippo said, "But she doesn't smell like a ningen as well." He crossed his short arms over his chest and thought about the sweet scent of flowers coming from the young woman. "I don't know why exactly, but when I'm around her, it feels as if everything would be all right."

"There's also this purity I never saw in anyone before, not even in children," Miroku said, "Not to mention, I never saw anybody with her features before, could she be a youkai in disguise?"

"In my time, there are lots of people who have blond hair," Kagome said, "Maybe her family came to Japan from another country…you know, like an immigrant."

"But that still doesn't explain how Usagi-san and InuYasha know each other," Sango said. Her statement caused everyone to sigh and think about the problem once again.

!-!

"So…you're not a ningen," InuYasha said after hearing the story. He tilted his head in a curious manner, causing Usagi to think of him resembling a puppy or a kitten studying a new object. "But if you weren't a ningen, then how come you didn't survive the injury?"

"It's very complicated, Yasha-kun," Usagi replied. She pulled InuYasha into her lap and leaned his head on her shoulder, just as she had always done when he was little. Usagi brushed her hand through his hair and closed her eyes. "When I was reincarnated, I was born as a ningen and it wasn't until I discovered my past as the Tsuki no Hime(1), that I slowly became a lunarian. And when it was time for me to ascend the throne, that's when I fully become a lunarian. But because I lived my life here with no real threat or without knowing the truth of my past…"

"You never got the chance to become a lunarian," InuYasha said, "Are you a lunarian now?"

"Somewhat," Usagi replied, "I still haven't gone up on my throne yet. Now why don't you tell me what has been happening since I left?" She leaned against the well as InuYasha jumped up onto his feet and began telling her his story, strangely resembling the little kid he was before.

!-!

"Kagura," Naraku's quiet yet scheming voice said, causing her body to stiffen with alert. "Very interesting on what you did to InuYasha." Her body started to relax when she heard the compliment, but the awkward pause made her alert just the same. "However, it would probably be better if the spell didn't have a way to reverse it."

Kagura was confused. After all, the only way to reverse it was to have a kiss from someone of the person's childhood. But there was nobody left, other than Sesshoumaru. There's just no way that Shinji's spell could have been broken up so easily and quickly.

"I see that you don't know what I'm talking about," Naraku said. He waved his hand to Kanna who revealed in her mirror InuYasha back to his original height, practicing…or rather randomly swinging his sword from side to side. "Find out what happened, Kagura," he ordered.

Kagura bowed her head and said, "As you wish, Naraku-sama." She stood up and was about to leave when Naraku called her back. Faintly, Kagura heard sniffling coming from behind the doors at the side and wondered silently what that could be.

"Kagura, I want you to take her with you," Naraku said.

The doors slid open at its own accord and revealed a young girl, probably about the age of eight years. She had bright pink hair that was put up into pigtails. Tears were traveling down her bright red eyes. All in all, she looked like a regular ningen girl, (AN: You know what's coming, don't you?) except for a weird moon-like mark on her forehead (AN: Anyone know who this is?). "Kaa-san," she whispered between each sniffles.

"Who is she?" Kagura asked, staring at the girl. There was a slight stench of Naraku coming from her that informs her that she's probably a new detachment, but there's something about the child that just screams that she doesn't belong in this world of darkness.

"Follow Kagura, child, and she'll take you to your hahayo(2)," Naraku said with a smile on his face. Kagura eyed her master carefully and knew that whenever it seems like he's being nice, often time it's for his benefit only.

"Honto?" the child asked, glancing curiously at Naraku. When she saw him smile and nod his head, the oblivious girl grinned and ran to Kagura.

Kagura took the girl's hand and walked out of the room. "I thought I was just suppose to spy on InuYasha, not take this girl to her mother," she said silently. She watched as the girl just smiled happily as she skipped by her side. Kagura's red eyes then widened in realization. "Unless this child is just part of his plan."

"Are we really going to kaa-san?" the girl asked.

"Yes," Kagura lied, "But first, there's something I have to check up on."

"Oh," the child whispered, a bit of the joy vanishing. She walked slightly in a less joyful manner. She glanced up at Kagura and said, "Watashi wa (AN: It's coming…just who is this child that resembles the little spore we all know) Chibi-Usa (3). I was named after kaa-san."

"And just who is your okaa-san?" Kagura asked, a bit curious about the young girl who doesn't even seem to acknowledge Naraku as her master and has control of her own mind, heart, and actions.

"Kaa-san is the world's most beautiful woman. She has the biggest and kindest hert in the entire universe," Chibi-Usa said, "Everyone always say that she's very pure and everyone she meets loves her. She's always doing something to make her friends happy and she's always helping other people." Chibi-Usa glanced up at the sky with a bright smile on her face. "My yume(4) is to be a beautiful lady like her!"

Kagura pulled the feather from her hair. "Yume?" she whispered gently.

"Kaa-san said that yumes are important and it's a part of who we are," Chibi-Usa said, "because as we work hard to make them come true, we are able to learn more about ourselves." She looked at Kagura and asked, "What's your yume?"

Kagura's eyes narrowed and then closed. She pulled the feather close to her before tossing it into the air. "Doesn't matter since in won't come true," she said, getting onto the enlarged feather.

Chibi-Usa followed her and thought about Kagura's reply. "Maybe you can ask kaa-san for help," she said, "She could help you make it come true." She then went on talking about all the people her mother had helped and befriended as Kagura listened partially and flew towards InuYasha's location.

(1) 'Tsuki no Hime' is of course the Moon Princess.

(2) 'Hahayo' is just another word for mother. Jeez…why are there so many different kinds of words for mom, sister, brother…what's with all the different versions?

(3) 'Watashi wa Chibi-Usa' means I'm Chibi-Usa. Pretty much, she is introducing herself.

(4) 'Yume' means dream.

AN: So was anyone surprised to see Chibi-Usa again? You all might be wondering why she is here when of course Mamoru is dead, but if you had caught it, she is actually a detachment of Naraku, a different kind of Naraku but still a detachment. Chibi-Usa has control of her own actions and could actually do whatever she wants and, yes, she does hold a significance part in this story.

Read and tell me what you think. Please, I really want these reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

**In previous updating of this chapter, I forgot to put in the guidelines of the words or phrases I put in. I didn't change this chapter, other than putting in the meanings at the end of the chapter. You can skip it to the bottom and just read the meanings.**

**Me:** I'm back with chapter six up here for all to read.

**Kouga**: About time…just where the hell have you been!

**Me**: Hey! It's not my fault if I became busy. After all this is I spent the past few weeks trying to get ready for my lesson plan for summer school.

**Naraku**: So you mean to tell me that "summer school" is more important than me, I mean, this story?

**Me**: Well duh! No offense, but as much as I enjoy reading and writing fanfiction, but this summer school program is being run by my mom.

**Sesshoumaru**: So this means that you still have distractions and you can't concentrate on finishing up this story.

**Me**: Of course not, I mean I may be busy in the summer, but it doesn't mean that I won't keep trying to keep up with my updating. But anyway, I'd just like to say something to the people who love my story and that's thank you for all the reviews you had sent me and the patience you had shown! I'm so happy to hear that you like this story.

**Sesshoumaru**: Well, I'm also happy.

**Me**: (staring at his stoic face) I can't really tell because you always look the same.

**Sesshoumaru**: You'll be able to tell if I'm happy if you just added me in already.

**Kouga**: Yeah! Just when am I gonna show up?

**Me**: When I'm ready for your parts. Patience is a virtue.

**Kouga**: True…but patience is something we do NOT have! I mean, you even added Naraku in the story. That's just plain wrong!

**Naraku**: (smirking) It just proves that I'm much more better than all of you.

**Sesshoumaru**: (ignoring bickering two) So, who's gonna be with Usagi?

**Me**: That's for me to know and you to find out.

**Naraku**: Well, it's quite obvious that I'm gonna be paired up with her.

**Kouga**: Says you.

**Naraku**: Nope, says the reviewers. After all, you heard what they said. Chibi-Usa is like my daughter.

**Me**: Sorry, but you're not gonna be paired up with Usagi, Naraku. While it's true that she's like you're daughter, since she's a detachment, but you pretty much think of her as a tool.

**Naraku**: (jaw drops and acts insulted) What! Do not!

**Kouga**: You're using her to spy on dog-face. That's called using her as a tool.

**Sesshoumaru**: (sighs in relief) Thank god she's not gonna be with him.

**Naraku**: Shut up, Sesshoumaru! (pouting) That's just not fair! Does this mean I'll be trying to kill her?

**Me**: Technically, you'll be trying to pursue her instead of killing her. So, can anyone do the disclaimer for me?

**Kouga/Naraku/Sesshoumaru**: Only if you tell us who's gonna be with Usagi!

**Me**: Why me? (shaking my head) Never mind, I'll do it myself. I don't own InuYasha or Sailor Moon. Send in your reviews!

Ch6

Kagura peeked from behind a tree and watched in curiosity at the scene in front of her. She knew of InuYasha, but the outlandish woman she knew nothing about. It was strange, considering the fact that nobody in this time and place has blond hair and blue eyes. She watched as InuYasha was talking to the woman, obviously absorbed in his story to even notice her.

Chibi-Usa stared up at the woman in front of her and wondered what she was looking at. She sneaked over to the bushes and glanced over the tops of the shrubberies. Her red eyes caught sight of InuYasha and were focused on his twitching dog-ears as she giggled silently. Her eyes then traveled to a strangely familiar looking woman sitting on the ground. The longer she studied the young woman, the wider her eyes grow as she recognized her.

A smile grew on her face as she immediately raced out into the open, ignoring Kagura's shouts for her to come back. Chibi-Usa felt her heart pound as she thought to herself, "She's here. She's really here," as tears came to her eyes. As she got closer to the pair, Chibi-Usa opened her mouth and shouted, "Kaa-san!"

Kagura stopped chasing after her and stared at the girl in shock and then at the woman, who quickly turned around when she heard what the child called out. Taking advantage of InuYasha's oblivious personality at that moment, Kagura jumped back into the trees and watched the scene.

Usagi had heard a familiar voice calling out 'Kaa-san' and turned around, wondering who it was. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the daughter she had thought that she'd never see again ever since her fiancé's death. "Chibi-Usa?" she said, standing up as she stared at the young girl. She brought her hands to her mouth as tears started to fall down her cheek. "Chibi-Usa!" she called out, racing towards her baby girl and bringing the girl close to her in a tight embrace.

InuYasha watched in confusion as mother and daughter hugged each other. From what he had gathered from the story he had heard, Chibi-Usa was going to be the name of the daughter if this Mamoru or Endymion fella lived, but he died in the battle his sister had fought in. And what really got to him was the fact that he detected a slight scent of someone he would've loved to maim and torture to death. His ears twitched at the sounds of the trees' branches rustling and grew suspicious when he was sure that there wasn't a wind or breeze in the area.

Kagura noticed the hanyou coming towards her in a careful manner. She heard a slight buzzing by her ear and turned to see the insect Naraku uses to spy on others. She listened as Naraku ordered her to return back to his castle and leave the child there. "So she is part of his plan," she mused silently as she grabbed her method of transportation and hopped onto the feather.

InuYasha's sharp golden eyes saw Kagura as she flew off into the air. "Kagura," he snarled. He was about to charge after her when he heard Chibi-Usa saying goodbye to the wind demon. He turned to Chibi-Usa and shouted, "You know her!"

Chbi-Usa nodded her head. "She brought me here," she replied, still clutching onto Usagi.

"Is she someone you know?" Usagi asked.

InuYasha nodded his head. "Yeah, Kagura's one of the detachments of Naraku," he replied. He didn't have to go into too much detail to Usagi since he already explained everything about Naraku and the evil deeds he had done to not just him, but to many others as well. He stared at Chibi-Usa and added, "And I get the feeling that she is also a detachment."

Chibi-Usa glanced curiously at InuYasha and then at Usagi, who was caressing her cheek gently. "Perhaps, but I believe that she's different," Usagi said. The silver-haired hanyou looked at her with puzzled expression on his face. "This symbol on her forehead isn't something someone can imitate so easily. She may be a detachment, but her heart is separate from this Naraku."

InuYasha sighed and studied Chibi-Usa closely. "All right, aneue," he said. Usagi's instincts had never been wrong before; if she sees that someone is trustworthy, they usually are. "I trust you," he said, smiling.

Usagi smiled back at him and hugged her daughter. "Chibi-Usa, this is InuYasha, he's my otouto-kun," she said.

"So…he's like my ji-chan(1)," Chibi-Usa said. She tilted her head to the side and stared at the dog-ears. "So, you're a youma?" she asked.

Usagi laughed and said, "Youmas are what we fought against. InuYasha is actually a hanyou. His otou-san was a youkai and his okaa-san was a ningen."

Chibi-Usa's eyes widened in amazement from the news. "So, you're hybrid?"

InuYasha nodded his head. "Yeah," he replied. He stood up and said, "We better head back. It's starting to get even late." Usagi stood up and placed a hand over Chibi-Usa's forehead; in a few seconds, the moon insignia vanished. "Aneue, I think it's better if we don't tell anyone about this," InuYasha said.

"About what?" Usagi asked.

"That you're my aneue and…you know," he replied, "I have a lot of enemies and I don't want someone coming and trying to kill you." Usagi nodded her head as if she understood what he was going about. "What about you, squirt?" he asked the girl, who nodded her head as well.

!-!

Kagome and her friends glanced up when they heard the mat move aside and saw InuYasha and Usagi walk in with a young girl holding her hand. "InuYasha, what took you so long?" Kagome asked.

Miroku noticed Chibi-Usa and smiled as he said, "Well, InuYasha, I didn't know you were the type to work fast. And I'd never expected you to have a child with Usagi-san already."

"NANI?" InuYasha shouted, "That's disgusting! And don't confuse me for you!" He folded his arms across his chest and said, "She's Usagi's daughter, the name's Chibi-Usa."

Shippo glanced at the girl and the first thought in his mind was, "She's cute(2)." Then he sniffed a slightly familiar scent coming from Chibi-Usa. "Ah! She has the same scent as Kagura!" he exclaimed.

The others stood up and were about to attack the child when both InuYasha and Usagi stood in front of her protectively. "InuYasha?" Kagome asked in a curious voice. Usually whenever someone is a detachment of Naraku, he would blow up and try to kill the person, but now, he's practically protecting the child.

"Anyone who lays a hand on her is gonna get their ass kicked by me," InuYasha snarled angrily. Despite the truth that Chibi-Usa is a detachment of his worst enemy and he had just met her, but he had already felt a connection with the child and felt like he had to protect her from anyone who'll harm her, even his own friends.

Miroku and Sango stared at Chibi-Usa who stared shyly from behind Usagi and clutched tightly on her skirt. Concentrating their attentions on the child, they were shocked to discover that she, in fact, also has the same pure aura surrounding her that Usagi has. Miroku placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, silently interrupting the argument, which would result in InuYasha's punishment of kissing the floor. "I think we can trust her for now, Kagome-sama," the young monk said.

Kagome looked at Miroku with puzzled eyes. "Kagome-chan, I think we can go with InuYasha's judgment on this," Sango said, "I'm sure that he thought it over." She turned her attention to the hanyou, who now focused on Usagi and was leading her and Chibi-Usa to sit down beside Kaede.

Kagome also noticed an alien emotion in the often-hardheaded hanyou. Her brown eyes narrowed in slight jealousy, upset with the fact that InuYasha was willingly showing a soft side in public to a girl none of them knew. She knew that she really shouldn't be judging the child because she does seem to be very innocent, but then again, so did Kohaku until Naraku possessed his mind again. She closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down as she asked, "What made you trust the child?"

"Because Chibi-Usa is like a-Usagi's daughter," InuYasha replied, "She may be Naraku's detachment, but it is also possible that she is the reincarnation of Usagi's daughter." He sat down beside Usagi, who was holding the sleeping child in her arms, sleeping on her mat. "And Usagi's intuition is dependable," he added.

Kagome's mouth dropped and asked, "Just because Usagi-san said that, doesn't mean that it could be true."

InuYasha glared at Kagome and said, "Actually just because Usagi says it, it means that it is true."

"If she said that Naraku could be trusted, would you believe her?" Kagome asked.

"Of course," InuYasha, "It just so happens that I trust her a whole lot more than you!" He turned his entire body to face Usagi. "Nobody's more important to me than Usagi."

That was it. Kagome couldn't take it anymore. First he goes on trying to protect Kikyou, even when she's trying to get him or her killed. And now, he's all friendly with this woman who none of them has ever seen before, trusting every word that comes out of her mouth. "I need to go get more supplies," she muttered, grabbing her yellow backpack and heading out the door.

"Guess she's heading home," Shippo said, staring after Kagome. He then glared angrily at InuYasha and shouted, "Just what were you thinking? This could all be a trap, for crying out loud!"

The young kitsune was about to continue to yell at the hanyou, who was ignoring him, when Miroku placed his hand on top of his head, causing him to stop. The monk shook his head and stared at InuYasha, who would usually start sulking when Kagome heads home, but is now looking as if he doesn't care while paying close attention to the two sleeping females. Kaede glanced at the hanyou from the corner of her eye and noticed that soft serene look on his face; she shook her head and sighed, thinking that perhaps the relationship everyone assumed Usagi and InuYasha have is too much of an exaggeration. Sango also shook her head; for the first time, she didn't blame InuYasha for his insincere temper, she was kind of hoping that Kagome wouldn't have jumped too much into conclusion.

/-/

Kagome's family had been sitting in the dining room when they heard the front door open and then slam shut. "Tadiema(3)," an annoyed Kagome said as she stomped her way to the dining room.

Souta, her seven-year-old brother, glanced up from the television and noticed the usual look on her face whenever she came back home from her fight with InuYasha. "Nee-chan, did something bad happen?" he asked curiously, hoping to get a hint of what the fight had been about.

"Only the stupid conceited hanyou is actually trusting a girl none of us had met and he 'claimed' to know very well," Kagome shouted at the top of her lungs.

Her age old grandfather nodded his head as if agreeing with the statement, but the words that came out of his mouth proved otherwise. "Was this girl very beautiful, Kagome?" he asked. She nodded her head silently and fuming. "Ah…so you're just jealous," he said, cheerfully, causing Kagome to throw the big book bag at him before stomping up to her room.

"I think it's best to just leave her alone for the night," her mother said, smiling. "She'll feel better tomorrow after a good night sleep." Unfortunately, Kagome has been known to hold long grudges, especially if it is against InuYasha. The next day, instead of returning to the Feudal era, she went straight to school, leaving behind a curious family, who were wondering what had happened.

/-/

Back in the feudal time, Usagi and Chibi-Usa had no idea of the squabble between the hanyou and the teenager from the future; they awoke to find only InuYasha and Kaede trying to help the young girl fit in. Usagi had left her daughter behind with her uncle as she traveled to the river to gather some water.

"Just why didn't you stop Kagome, Miroku?" Shippo asked, "I mean, InuYasha go pretty far with his insults. He didn't have to go and yell at Kagome like that."

Usagi followed the voice to the riverside. "Ohayo," Usagi said, as she walked over to them. She noticed that the three of them had become silent and were glancing at each other, as if wondering what they should do. A concern look appeared on her face as she asked, "Is everything okay? I know I kind of fell asleep yesterday after I came back with Chibi-Usa, but I thought I heard some shouting in the background. There wasn't a fight, was there?"

"Of course there was! I don't know what spell you placed on InuYasha, but you better take it off right now!" Shippo shouted. When he saw the confused look on her face, he was beginning to wonder if Usagi really didn't do anything to change the hanyou's personality. "InuYasha was actually doing what another girl, other than Kikyou, would tell him to do and it's just weird! I mean, InuYasha would never take orders from any one, nor would he trust them so blindly."

"Kikyou?" Usagi repeated as she thought about what InuYasha had told her, "Is she the miko who he fell in love with before he was sealed away?" The three friends nodded their heads silently. Usagi smiled sheepishly at Shippo and said, "Gomen for having you think that way, but I didn't put any spell on him. I don't even know how to do that, and even if I did, I would never do that, especially to Yasha-kun."

Miroku was studying Usagi silently and asked seriously, "How did you meet InuYasha, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm afraid that that story is for Yasha-kun to tell when he's ready," the blonde woman replied.

Sango grinned slightly and asked, "Just what is your relationship with him, anyway, Usagi-san?"

"I'm not his lover, if that's what you're implying," Usagi replied playfully. She laughed slightly and added, "I'm just a close friend of his."

Miroku's eyes then widened as he approached Usagi with a smile that seemed harmless to those who don't know him very well, but to those who are close to him, it's just a sign of annoyance. "My dear lady," he said, grasping her hand in his, "would you bear my children?"

Usagi just stared in shock and couldn't answer him, but she didn't have to. InuYasha had been walking towards them when he heard Miroku asking the annoying question. Enraged, he rushed towards them and, before Sango could attack him with her boomerang, punched the monk into the river. "No, she will NOT bear your children, you perverted monk!" he shouted.

"Yasha-kun, calm down," Usagi said, placing a hand on his arm, "He was only joking, so don't mind him."

"But he fit your list of requirements for a husband," InuYasha muttered, sitting down beside her.

Usagi laughed as she watched Miroku swim towards them. "He may not hate youkais and hanyous and try to kill each one that comes his path, but I won't marry someone if I don't love him. That's been a nature in my family since I can remember." She unwrapped the sash around her waist to reveal a white colored rope in its place and handed Miroku the sash. "Here, why don't you use this to dry your self? It won't do much, but it might help a bit." The monk took it and nodded his thanks; he wiped his forehead with the pale blue fabric and as he brought it over his nose, he noticed a distinct smell of flowers. "Now, why don't you tell me what happened last night when I went to bed?" she said, in a soft but firm manner.

Usagi listened in silence as Shippo started to relay the story to her. She nodded her head to his story, seemingly not really noticing that he was exaggerating certain parts. InuYasha looked like he was about to bash the small fox's head in as he continued to listen on the parts where Shippo was trying to make him look bad in front of his sister. He made a movement to go and strangle the youkai but when Usagi turned to him and scolded him silently with her eyes, InuYasha dropped to the ground and his head went straight to the floor, almost like a dog that's being scolded by its owner.

Usagi then sighed, no matter what he does, she would always end up forgiving him. She then turned to the others and asked, "So, Kagome-chan went to the future?" Everyone nodded his or her heads. "I think I should go and talk to her," Usagi then said as she stood up, quietly getting the grass stains off her kimono, "And I should apologize to her for Yasha-kun's temper."

"I guess that means I have to go too," InuYasha said in a complaining tone.

Usagi shook her head and laughed slightly as she said, "It's all right; I could go by myself."

"But it's impossible to get to Kagome-chan's world without InuYasha's help," Sango said, "For some reason, only Kagome-chan and InuYasha are able to bypass the well's barrier to go back and forth in time."

Usagi cupped her chin between her thumb and pointer finger as she thought about the predicament, she had wanted to talk to Kagome alone without InuYasha being there. Then it hit her. Setsuna has the power to cross the time streams and now the powers had been passed down to her. "I think I might be able to go by myself," Usagi said, "A special friend of mine might be able to help me go through."

"Special friend?" Shippo repeated, staring curiously at Usagi with the child-like curiousity. "Who is it?"

Usagi just shook her head slightly as she lifted a finger over her mouth, as if trying to say that it was a secret. She heard Chibi-Usa calling for her and turned to see her daughter running towards her with a bright smile on her face. "Chibi-Usa, do you want to come with me?" she asked.

Chibi-Usa took Usagi's hand and looked up at her. "Go where?" she asked, with her red eyes glancing at her mother only.

"To Kagome-chan's world," Usagi replied. She glanced at the bright blue sky and said softly, "I think we should try to explain to Kagome-chan about the fight she had with Yasha-kun."

"Ji-chan got into a fight?" Chibi-Usa asked, staring up at InuYasha this time, "I hope you didn't hurt her too badly otherwise kaa-san might be mad at you."

"We didn't fight," InuYasha denied quickly, "We just…argued." He turned his pouting face away and defended himself, "And besides, she started it. Everyone knows that a-Usagi's judgment of people is always 100 percent correct. Every youkai and hanyou she befriends are always the ones that don't hate ningen and try to annihilate them all."

Usagi shook her head as she gathered Chibi-Usa into her arms. "But Yasha-kun, Kagome-chan doesn't know me as well as you do," she said gently. She watched as he dropped his head in a slow realization. "I better warn her, so she won't go arguing with you again and end up going home," she said as she walked towards the well, "And I'm pretty sure that whenever she heads on home, it hinders your journey to find those shards you're after."

Sango nodded her head and with a silent chuckle, she agreed with Usagi's statement. "Not to mention that whenever Kagome-chan goes home, InuYasha seems to throw a fit and end up following her back," she said.

Miroku nodded his head. "That's true," he added, draping a hand over Sango's shoulders. The taijiya eyed his hand warily and watched just in case, he decided that just because she's allowing him to leave it there, it doesn't mean that she wants him to start groping her inappropriately. For the first time in his life, Miroku wasn't paying much attention to the girl he was touching, instead all of his attention was on Usagi. "But more importantly, just how do you go over to Kagome-sama's home, Usagi-san?" he asked.

Usagi turned her head over to the monk as she continued to walk down the worn off path. "Just as I said before, with a help from a special friend," she said.

!-!

Everybody crowded around the old Bones Eater Well and stared down into it, watching Usagi and Chibi-Usa. They were all pretty anxious and eager to see just how Usagi, a simple ningen, could actually do something that a powerful youkai can't do, which is to cross through the time stream and jump five hundred years into the future.

While everyone was pretty excited to see what will happen, InuYasha was filled with worry. He had been to Kagome's world once and had seen how dangerous it could be, what with all those bandits and fire accidents in those buildings. He knew that the future was no surprise to his sister, considering that she had been there before coming back, but nonetheless, he was still worried.

Sensing his concern, Usagi looked up to see everyone's smiling faces, but she focused more on InuYasha. She winked playfully at him and gave him a smile, calming the sea of worry in him. Usagi stared down to the ground and clasped her hands together into a prayer. "Sailor Pluto, my dear guardian of time, please help guide me safely to the world where Kagome has now resided," she prayed silently, "Setsuna…my dear friend, please lend me your guidance one more time."

Eyes grew wider as they watched the two have a dark greenish glow around them. The ground they stood on remained as thick and straight, but it was slowly absorbing the mother and daughter in, almost as if it was quicksand. But there was no sign of fear or hesitation on their faces; instead, Chibi-Usa was waving goodbye with one hand and the other clutching onto Usagi's hand. "We'll be back as soon as we can," Usagi said, mainly to InuYasha. And within minutes, the two had left with no trace of where they stood before in the well.

!-!

Kagome was walking, or rather, stomping, towards her seat in school with a pissed off look on her face. "Just who does he think he is," she muttered, "I can't believe he actually trusts Usagi-san like that. I mean, she may seem nice and all, but how do we not know if she's just an enemy."

Her thoughts then trailed to her grandfather, thinking back to his words, 'Ah…so you're just jealous.' She sat down as she thought about it more. Maybe she was jealous, jealous of the fact that Usagi truly was beautiful, jealous of the fact that InuYasha already acts like a dog on a leash around her. She was okay with the fact that InuYasha was still head over heels over Kikyou, but that was because they were together before she came into the picture and were forced apart by Naraku. But just where does Usagi-san fit in all this? She rested her elbow on her desk and leaned her cheek in and sighed.

!-!

Usagi glanced around the well and noticed the rope ladder. "That's gonna be a pain to climb, especially in this thing," she whispered in an agitated tone.

Chibi-Usa looked at the rope and then to her mother's light blue kimono and to her dark red kimono. "Why don't you fly?" she suggested.

Usagi gasped and then squealed at her option. She hugged Chibi-Usa tightly and gave a kiss on her cheek. "That's my smart little lady," she said. She picked up the eight-year-old. "Hang on tight," she said. Usagi closed her eyes as her white wings came to view and to life, giving them a few flaps before taking off. She flew out of the well and had them disappear before exiting the well.

Taking Chibi-Usa's hand into hers, Usagi proceeded to walk to the two story white house residing next door. She knocked on the door and waited as the door opened and a kind looking woman looked at her. "Ohayo," Usagi said, bowing slightly, "I was wondering if Kagome-chan is home right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman said. "I'm afraid that Kagome isn't in right now. I'm her mother. Do you want me to leave a message? Or you could come back in the afternoon."

"That's all right," she said, smiling, "But do you mind telling me where she could be as of now?"

Before she could reply, an old man came in to see who was at the door. His eyes widened when he saw Usagi. She had the longest golden hair he has ever seen and the purest and clearest blue eyes. But what really got him was the fact that she was wearing an old fashion kimono, not a lot of people would wear them nowadays, unless there was a festival. "Who are you, my dear?" he asked.

Usagi grinned and introduced herself, "My name is Usagi Tsukino and this is my daughter Chibi-Usa. We wish to see Kagome-chan."

"I'm afraid she's over at school today," the grandfather said. "_Even though I had a great name for a disease, she still offered to go to school," _he added mentally as he turned his head to the side with tears cascading down his cheeks.

Usagi stared at his weird antics and smiled nervously as she slowly inched away from him. "Um…can you tell me where the school is?" she asked.

Kagome's mother nodded her head and wrote down the instructions on a piece of paper as the grandfather stared at Chibi-Usa. "I hope you won't find me rude, but how old are you, Usagi-chan?" he asked. Usagi told him her age without any hesitation. "And Chibi-Usa-chan is about eight, am I correct?" he asked. Usagi nodded her head. "Aren't you a bit too young to have an eight-year-old daughter?" he asked as the mother gasped in shock at him.

Usagi smiled and said, as she stared down to the floor. "She's…actually my adopted daughter," she fibbed slightly. Chibi-Usa isn't exactly her daughter, considering the fact that she was suppose to be born through her love with Mamoru and the fact that she is this Naraku's detachment. She took the paper and thanked the mother before continuing on her way towards the school.

!-!

Usagi stood in front of the white building with Chibi-Usa glancing around in excitement. On the way, there had been several people who had been looking their way, probably because of the way they were dressed, but Usagi paid them no mind since she was bent on arriving to her destination. "Let's go see Kagome-chan," Usagi said to Chibi-Usa, who nodded her head. Together they walked into the building and asked to see the young ninth grader.

!-!

"Higurashi, there's someone who wants to see you," a teacher said, opening the door to the classroom. He glanced around the classroom to spot the teenager.

Kagome stood up hesitantly, silently wondering, "Just who could it be?"

Usagi walked into the classroom with a bright smile on her face. "Kagome-chan, I hope I haven't caught you in a bad time," she said softly.

Kagome was shocked to see Usagi standing there in her school. She then noticed a bunch of the boys giving her catcalls and whistling at her to Usagi's embarrassment. It turns out that she could even charm people she had never met. But Kagome was more curious with the fact that Usagi had managed to come to her time, however, the thought was dismissed with the fact that InuYasha was probably waiting somewhere on the roof of her school or at her home.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea…" the teacher trailed on, waiting for Usagi to fill in the blank.

Usagi giggled slightly. "Sorry, I should've introduced myself," she said, "Watashi wa Usagi…Usagi Tsukino. And may I ask why it's not a good idea to talk with Kagome-chan?"

"Well, Higurashi-san should be spending more time in school since she's been out for a long time," the teacher said, "And she needs more help if she wants to get to a good high school."

"I'm sure I could help her with her school work," Usagi said, clasping her hands together, almost in a prayer-like or begging-like gesture. "It'll only take a few minutes for me to talk to her. And anyway, I have to leave town soon," she said. Usagi looked despairingly at teacher as if by saying that if he still won't let them talk, it would be like the end of the world.

The teacher just took one look into her pleading blue eyes and immediately fell into trap. He slowly nodded his head as his cheeks flushed into a deep red color. Usagi bowed slightly and said cheerfully, "Thank you so much, sensei." When the teacher turned around to face his class, Usagi looked at Kagome's way and winked playfully at her.

Kagome couldn't help but feel a sweat drop down on her head as she noticed that Usagi had just managed to make the teacher go her way. She followed Usagi out of the classroom and then they proceeded to the roof, where they hope to find some privacy. They walked silently toward the roof with Chibi-Usa walking in front of them with her attention solely on a picture book she had begged Usagi to buy.

"I heard about the fight you had with Yasha-kun last night about Chibi-Usa," Usagi said. Kagome turned to the young woman in shock. "Shippo-chan told me about it…with a few exaggerated remarks," she said, noting the fifteen-year-old's confusion. "I know it might seem suspicious, considering you don't know how Yasha-kun and I had met or know each other, but I'm asking you to trust in him and me," she said.

Kagome walked over toward the railings and leaned over them. "It's not that I don't trust you," she said. She turned her head to see that Chibi-Usa sitting by the door with her nose in the book. "It's just…Chibi-Usa-chan is a detachment of Naraku and now in the feudal era, it's just not wise to trust anyone so easily, especially a detachment," she said. Her brown eyes glanced down and glazed over as she remembered Kohaku, Sango's little brother, and how he could immediately be nice one moment and ready to kill them the next.

Usagi walked towards the railing and stood by her side. "Right now, you sounded just like the villagers I once lived with," she said. Kagome looked at her and was curious at this woman and knew deep down that she wanted to know more about her. " 'Feudal era'? Those words have nothing to do with trust," she continued, "The people in the village may be willing to help me take care of my home ever since my hahaue(4) and chichiue(5) passed away, but it doesn't mean that they were accepting the fact that my charge was a hanyou."

"Hanyou?" Kagome repeated. This was something she had never heard about. A regular human woman taking in a hanyou and caring for it when the hanyou wasn't her child is pretty rare.

"The reason I'm not married is because, despite the fact that men, both commoners and lords, would come and compliment on my outside appearance and try to flatter me, they would always end up making the same suggestion," Usagi said. Her blue eyes narrowed in disgust as she turned her face away from Kagome. "They would tell me to get rid of the hanyou, whether to abandon him or kill him, it didn't matter to them." Kagome gasped. "It sickens me. Just how could they tell me that they wish to marry me and yet tell me to get rid of him like that," she said angrily. Usagi's eyes shut tight as her hands closed tightly in a fist. "He's just a harmless child; he won't be able to defend himself in the wilderness! He lost his mother for a few years and his father died so he could be born safely," she said, "They don't know anything about him and never tried to know him; yet they're able to go and assume that he's a dangerous menace, all because he's a hanyou. It's people like them that I hate, always closing their eyes and ears to people they don't know or who are different than them."

Kagome looked away sheepishly when she saw Usagi turn towards her. "Do you know that we're no different than youkai and youkai are no different than us?" the blonde asked. Kagome shook her head, but continued to look away. "They may be physically stronger than us and could live after having wounds that could kill us, but they do have emotions and goals just as we do. They also have the determination to protect their own kinds and are be willing to fight to the death if it means they'll get rid of the threat. But some people and youkai are both blind and stubborn to see the similarities between them. All they see is that people are weak and fragile and youkai are monstrous and horrible. I know it sounds a bit too idealistic, but the only way for all the hate and fighting to stop is if they just trust each other."

"I know that Naraku may be your enemy, but it doesn't mean that everything that associates with him are bad," she continued. Usagi glanced over at Chibi-Usa with a soft look in her eyes. "If you just give people a chance, I'm pretty sure that they'll surprise you," she said, this time smiling at Kagome. "Also, I should apologize for Yasha-kun's temper last night. It was my fault that you two argued," she said.

"No, it's okay," Kagome said. She waved her two hands in front of her as she continued, "We always argue like that, so last night was no difference."

"But I was the reason the argument was triggered last night," Usagi said. She laughed nervously as she started to walk towards her daughter. "I'm afraid that Yasha-kun tends to be too defensive if someone goes and insults something that is dear to him, that just ends up with them treading on thin ice."

Kagome nodded her head in agreement. When people often insult him because he's a hanyou and talk about his mother, it becomes a touchy subject and the more they talk about it, the more he'll explode. "It was partly my fault too. Sango-chan and Miroku-sama both told me to trust you, but I guess I was just upset," she said.

Usagi smiled as the wind blew by her hair. Kagome soon noticed that with the kimono she wore and with her simple beauty, she looked just like a surreal woman who came from someone's imaginations and dreams. "It's quite understandable," Usagi said, "After all, I would too if the one I love is quite taken with a woman I don't know."

Kagome's face flushed a deep red. "You knew?" Kagome asked.

Usagi nodded her head but brought a finger up to her lips. "But don't worry, I won't tell," Usagi said, "And besides, Yasha-kun and I don't have that kind of relationship." Kagome stared at her feet with a depressed sigh. "And don't worry about Kikyou, Kagome-chan. Yasha-kun will soon find out who he really loves. But in the mean time, I think you should trust him more."

Kagome nodded her head. "Arigato, Usagi-san," she said with a small smile, "Are you gonna wait at my home or are you gonna go back?"

"I'll head back," Usagi said, "Yasha-kun tends to go crazy if he starts getting paranoid about me getting hurt." She took Chibi-Usa's hand and before continuing back to the well, Usagi turned to Kagome. "If you need help with your school work, you can ask me. I think I might be able to help you out," she said.

!-!

Everyone was loitering around the well, almost bored to death as they waited for Usagi and Chibi-Usa to return back from the future. A dark greenish flash of light brought everyone's attention back to the bottom of the well. They looked down to see Usagi and Chibi-Usa standing there. InuYasha jumped down to the well and jumped back up with the two females in his arms.

"Did you talk to her?" Shippo asked.

Usagi smiled at the young fox as she stood straight up on the floor. She winked at him and said, "Mission accomplished."

AN: Chapter six is now finished. And I would like to use this time to set things straight.

-InuYasha and Usagi are not going to be a couple. They have a more sibling relationship above everything else.

-The reason why this Chibi-Usa seems to be more respectful of Usagi rather than the little spore everyone knows is because that this Chibi-Usa is more like the one from the future, the one who adores her mother above all else. Not to mention that Usagi in this fic now seems more like Neo-Queen Serenity, rather than the clumsy blond teenager.

So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please send your reviews!

(1) 'Ji-chan' means uncle

(2) Doesn't Shippo seem like a little mini-Miroku? What with him constantly meeting young girls and having a small crush on them?

(3) 'Tadiema' means pretty much 'I'm home'

(4) 'Hahaue' is another word for mother

(5) 'Chichiue' is another word for father


	7. Chapter 7

**Me**: Hello everybody. It's me, Sapphire11224 and it's just great to hear from all of you as usual.

**Usagi**: (nods her head) It really is great to know that everyone likes this story and it's a pleasure for me to be in it.

**InuYasha: **Just why the hell did it take you forever to update this story?

**Me**: Well, as I had informed my readers from my previous stories, I was very busy with school.

**InuYasha: **Just what is this school thing anyway? From what I've seen, it looked more like a prison for people.

**Usagi: **(giggling) Well, that's one way to put it.

**Chibi-Usa**: I still don't see why you had me as a detachment of Naraku. (crosses arms over her chest in a pouting movement) Just what is he planning to do with me anyway?

**InuYasha**: Yeah. He isn't planning on killing aneue, right?

**Me**: You only call her that in the story; you don't have to call her that now.

**InuYasha**: (turns head away) Hmph…what's wrong with saying it now? I actually like the idea of her being my aneue.

**Sesshoumaru**: Only a hanyou would hold such weak emotions towards a human woman.

**Usagi**: Lunarian! I'm lunarian, Sesshoumaru.

**InuYasha**: And what's wrong with aneue, you bastard brother of mine?

**Me**: (shaking pointer finger at InuYasha) Now, now, there's no need for you to call him such harsh names, Yasha-kun. (turns to Sesshoumaru to see his smirking face) And you, Mr. Humans-Are-Pathetic-And-Weaker-Than-Me-And-Are-So-Inferior-That-They-Aren't-Worth-The-Air-I-Breathe, so you think that human women, such as Usagi, aren't worthy enough. (turns my back towards him while smirking) Well, then I'll just make sure that I'll never EVER pair her up with you. (ignoring the shocked look on his face)

**InuYasha**: Really? (eyes grew wide as he stares at me and sees me nod my head) All right! (jumping in joy then he froze) Wait a minute, then just who is aneue gonna be paired up with then? You said that it's not Naraku, so that means the only good choice left would be…(grabs head) Please tell me you're not having that damn WOLF!

A fast coming whirlwind came onto the screen with Kouga coming with an angered look on his face

**Kouga**: Just what is that supposed to mean?

**InuYasha**: (smirking at him) Just what do you think I meant by that?

**Me**: (staring at them as they argued back and forth and sighed in annoyance) Why me?

**Usagi**: (stares at me and just smiles) Why don't you continue on the story? I have a feeling that this fight might take a while, especially since it looks like Sesshoumaru is going to take part in this fight as well.

**Me**: (looks towards them to see Sesshoumaru getting ready to take out his Toukijin and use it to kill InuYasha and Kouga for insulting him) Good point. Do you mind doing the disclaimer?

**Usagi**: Sure. Sapphire11224 doesn't own InuYasha or Sailor Moon, but the plot of the story and everything else in it does. Hope you enjoy the story and I hope to read more of those reviews you'll send when you're finished.

Ch7

_flashback_

**lyrics**

(Kagome's POV)

It's been several weeks since Usagi-san and Chibi-Usa-chan joined us in our journey and I've got to admit that it really is great that they did follow us. Of course there were times that whenever we got into a fight with one of Naraku's youkais or just a rogue one, InuYasha always made perfect sure that they weren't involved or in sight. But as they watched how InuYasha would hover protectively over them, they started to see it more as a family type relationship between the two, and not like a wife and husband type, but more of a father and daughter. No, I take that back…as I think back to certain events, it seemed more like a mother and son relationship between Usagi-san and InuYasha.

(Regular POV) _Everyone was sitting around as Usagi was preparing supper with some ingredients she had bought at the town they were staying in after leaving the town beside the well. Sango and Kagome helped Usagi with the stewas InuYasha was trying to get rid of the small group of youkai who were terrorizing the villagers' crop field with Miroku aiding him. InuYasha had asked Kagome and Sango to stay with Usagi to make sure nothing will happen to her. Chibi-Usa and Shippo were drawing on pieces of paper with the crayons Kagome had bought from the future, laughing at each other's story behind the pictures._

_The monk and hanyou came back to the clearing. "Everything appears to be all clear," InuYasha said, "Hopefully it'll stay that way tonight."_

_Usagi was stirring the pot of stew the females had been cooking over a fire. "I'm sure everything will be all right," she said. She took one of the bowls they had stacked up beside the black cooking pot and poured some broth into it before handing it to everyone. "Now, come and sit, Yasha-kun," Usagi said, motioning to a seat beside her, "And eat some supper." Everyone watched as InuYasha complied again without any argument._

_When supper was over, everyone was lodging around, watching as Usagi was entertaining a bunch of the village children, who came wandering in because of their curiosity of a ningen woman with the features and looks of a youkai and the personality of a guardian angel. Usagi was telling a story that is well known, but also known in a different way. While people of the feudal era of Japan know this story as the one with the Princess Kaguya, Usagi tells it as a history of her life when the time was filled with peace and beauty way back in Silver Millennium. The parents then came and took their children back home as the night became darker and late._

_Usagi had just put Chibi-Usa to sleep when she pulled out a thin bright blue comb from her bag. Her bag proved to be quite a surprise to her young companions who had begun wondering just what kind of magic envelopes the bag since the beginning of the trip when they saw that she was able to pull things out that were twice the size of the bag and was still able to take other thing out as well. She turned to face the others as they all got ready to go to sleep. Kagome and Shippo were sharing a sleeping bag and so were Sango and Kirara. Miroku was forced to move his bed to the far other side of the room as InuYasha was leaning against the wall in between the males and females._

_Usagi walked over to InuYasha and turned his around as she gently brushed his hair. "Yasha-kun, you really don't take good care of your hair, don't you?" she asked in a playful tone. She brushed his silver strands from the top down and made sure that no knots were left as InuYasha complained silently with a groan. Usagi smiled gently. She continued to untangle his locks as she softly hummed a tune, capturing the room's other occupants' attentions._

_**(Usagi)**_

_**Saigo ni kimi ga hohoende  
Massugu ni sashidashita mono wa  
Tada amarini kirei sugite  
Koraekirezu namida afureta**_

_**Ano hi kitto futari wa  
Ai ni fureta**_

_Usagi closed her eyes as the face of the very man she had hoped to spend the rest of her life with imprinted in her mind. A sad smile came up on her face. _

_**Watashitachi wa sagashiatte  
Tokini jibun o miushinatte  
Yagate mitsukeatta no nara  
Donna ketsumatsu ga matte ite mo**_

_**Unmei to iu igai  
Hoka ni wa nai**_

_She thought back to the time when they first met and how their engagement brought destruction to their homes. She was also reminded how they had the gods on their sides to allow them to start their love anew in the future._

_**la la la la la la la la la la  
la la la la la la la la la la **_

_**Kimi ga tabidatta ano sora ni  
Yasashiku watashi o terasu hoshi ga hikatte**_

_**Soba ni ite aisuru hito  
Toki o koete katachi o kaete  
Futari mada minu mirai ga koko ni  
Nee konnanimo nokotteru kara**_

_**Soba ni ite aisuru hito  
Toki o koete katachi o kaete  
Futari mada minu mirai ga koko ni  
Nokotteru kara**_

_The future she had seen with her friends when they went against the Dark Moon family. It was a sign of hope of eternal peace where she would rule happily with her husband, daughter, and dear friends._

_**Shinjite aisuru hito  
Watashi no naka de kimi wa ikiru  
Dakara kore kara saki mo zutto  
Sayonara nante iwanai**_

_There was something her friends had told her before they left and that was that if she keeps in all the memory of all their adventures and time together, then they were never truly gone. And it's true, they may not be able to be seen by anyone or even her, but she knows that they are there…right by her, protecting her and making sure that nothing will go wrong, just like how Setsuna's spirit had enabled her to travel to Kagome's home safely._

**_Ano hi kitto futari wa  
Ai ni fureta _**(1) Heaven by Ayumi Hamasaki

_Kagome looked around her to see that everyone had already fallen asleep as they were listening to the song. She then turned to InuYasha and raised an eyebrow to see that he had already fallen asleep. He was lying down with his head on Usagi's lap with the very same rare picture of his sleeping face where he was relaxed and not waiting for an attack to happen. Her brown eyes were watching as Usagi was keeping watch over InuYasha with the very same loving face she had seen on her mother's face many times when she was young. As she slowly drifted to sleep, her mind couldn't help but wonder whether or not if Usagi was like InuYasha's mother._

!-!

(Sango's POV)

Usagi-san is quite an enigma to us all. I admit that there were times when I would question her actions, but as InuYasha had stated before, her intuition is really dependable. It's not only her instinct that intrigues me, but also the knowledge she has on different youkais. Just by glancing at them, she could figure out their weakness, strengths, and how their personalities are usually like. Another thing that gets to me is the fact that InuYasha treats Usagi-san almost like she can't defend herself very well in a fight, because as I think back to a time where it contradicted his actions, I discovered that Usagi-san could very well defend herself.

(Regular POV) _The group was walking down a path through the forests, all was peaceful and calm…well, almost peaceful. Shippo was sitting on Kagome's shoulder, complaining about being tired and hungry and InuYasha was telling him to shut up and that he couldn't be tired since he's been riding on Kagome since that morning. Sango had just slapped Miroku on the face with a loud smack that echoed the forest when she caught him groping her again. Kagome was yelling at InuYasha to stop teasing Shippo and was threatening to punish him again. Usagi and Chibi-Usa were walking behind everyone, enjoying the entertainment provided for them in the journey._

_As they continued walking, Chibi-Usa and Shippo began to race each other, chasing each other and Miroku had decided to be safe and began a conversation with Usagi. They were walking behind everyone else as Usagi kept a close watch on Chibi-Usa. "So, Usagi-san, how exactly did you meet InuYasha?" Miroku asked._

_Usagi just smiled and replied, "I'm afraid that story is for Yasha-kun to tell."_

_The young monk sighed dejectedly and paused in his step. When he glanced back up, he noticed that Usagi was only a few steps ahead of him. His brown eyes were drifting down her figure as he studied the soft features when his eyes began to linger on her ass. He felt a tight knot in his throat as his hand slowly reached out, but he hesitantly pulled it back. "I can't. If I do, then InuYasha would have my head for real this time," he said quietly. But when he glanced back up, the desire to go and see if her body is really as soft as they appear became greater. "Just…this…once," he said, getting closer to the oblivious rabbit._

_Usagi was just walking along when she felt an unfamiliar brush against her ass. A deep red color exploded on her face. She quickly turned around as she shouted, "EECHI(2)!" and slapped the person behind her, who, unfortunately, happens to be Miroku. And unluckily for him, Usagi had forgotten to hold back her strength and it caused the poor monk to fly smack into a nearby tree._

_The others had stopped when they heard Usagi scream and Miroku slammed into the tree. They all turned around to see a red faced Usagi staring embarrassedly at Miroku, who was lying upside down, almost like he was sitting on the tree with the ground as the support for his back. The two teenage girls and Shippo sighed with a sense of hopelessness for the monk. Chibi-Usa didn't know Miroku very well, so she didn't really understand what had just occurred between her mother and the monk. InuYasha, however, his expressions were as clear as day that if someone didn't constrict him, they would be a monk short in the team._

"_MI-RO-KU!" InuYasha snarled, pausing between each syllable, as he cracked his knuckles. His golden-brown eyes were glaring at the unconscious monk. He was about to go and kill the bastard who dared to go and touch his sister in any inappropriate way._

_However Kagome grabbed his arm. "InuYasha, it's okay and besides," she said, glancing over at the raven-haired monk, "I think he already has his just desserts."_

_Sango shook her head at him and said, "Well, by the looks of it, he won't be getting up anytime soon. Why don't we set up camp now?" Her brown eyes then turned to Usagi, who was looking guilty for knocking him out. "It's okay, Usagi-san, houshi-sama had it coming at him."_

"_That's right," Shippo agreed, nodding his head, "Don't worry too much about it, Usagi, Miroku has this happen to him all the time whenever he touches Sango."_

_Chibi-Usa stared at Shippo and asked, "So this happens often?"_

"_Yeah, except Sango never knocked him out before," Shippo replied._

"_Why don't we start setting camp?" Kagome suggested after managing to calm the frustrated inu youkai(3)._

_Usagi watched as everyone gathered near the tree where Miroku was still unconscious. She glanced over at InuYasha, who was perched up in a tree to observe the surroundings. "Yasha-kun," she called out. InuYasha glanced down from the tree. "Come," she commanded gently, "Let's work a bit on your sword fighting." That's when everybody just stopped what they were doing and stared at her in complete shock. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked._

"_Are you sure that it's okay, Usagi-san?" Kagome asked._

_Sango nodded her head. "You don't even have a katana to use," she said._

"_And it is very dangerous to fight with InuYasha, even if you were just practicing," Shippo said._

_Usagi waved her hand to their warnings. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna fight him," she said, smiling, "Just teach him how to do more than just randomly swinging his sword, so if you don't mind, can I borrow your katana, Sango-chan?" Sango hesitantly nodded her head as she reluctantly handed her the sword tied to her waist. She then turned to InuYasha, who had jumped down from the tree, and asked, "Ready?"_

_InuYasha nodded and faced his sister. He pulled out his sword with the rusted blade transforming into its fanged form. Everyone would watch in amazement, as Usagi would start attacking the hanyou and then pointing out his mistakes in both defensive and offensive movements with the sword. But what really caught their attention, was when Usagi had InuYasha fight her for real and he ended up dislodging the sword, but he was immediately brought down when Usagi quickly knocked him down and brought the sword back into her hand and aimed it at him neck._

"_Did you just see that?" Shippo asked, rubbing his eyes. He then fell on his back as he burst into laughter, shouting, "InuYasha got beat by Usagi! Hahahahahahaha…" but he was quieted when InuYasha punched him on the head. "Waahhhhhhh…Kagome, InuYasha's being a sore loser and hit me on the head," he said, crying to his surrogate mother._

"_Inu..yasha," Kagome said heavily, glaring at the hanyou with a warning glare. "You don't have to go and be a sore loser and hit Shippo-chan."_

_Usagi laughed as she watched the taller hanyou inch away from the teenager with fear while she handed the katana back to Sango. "You shouldn't just blame Yasha-kun since Shippo-chan was also at fault," Usagi said with a smile, "If Shippo-chan hadn't went and teased him then Ysaha-kun wouldn't have hit him."_

"_You fought like an expert swordsman, Usagi-san," Sango said, "I wonder why InuYasha refused to let you fight with us."_

"_Ba-ka," InuYasha stretched out, "If Usagi ends up fighting by out side, youkais and other humans might end up knowing about her fighting skills. It's bad enough that her looks draws people's attentions, but if they find out that she knows how to fight, then they might end up wanting to capture her."_

!-!

(Shippo's POV)

It's strange how Usagi had become so close to us after we had been suspicious of her being an accomplice with Naraku. When InuYasha and Kagome had that fight the night we met Usagi and Chibi-Usa, I had thought that perhaps they placed a spell on InuYasha, but…whenever I look at them, I start to realize that that can't be true. It truly is strange how our minds work. Ever since the incident with the Thunder Brothers, I had thought about Kagome as my mom, but now as I spend more time with Usagi, it seemed like the mother role is slowly moving towards her. Whenever I watch how Usagi would look after InuYasha…I just can't help but envy him. It almost reminds me of my old mom every time I look at her.

(Regular POV) _Everybody was settled down in one of the lords' homes that Miroku had picked as the next lodging for the night. The girls and Shippo just returned from the baths and had entered the room where InuYasha and Miroku sat waiting for them. Shippo sat down beside Chibi-Usa and watched as Usagi went to tell InuYasha to go wash up._

"_Make sure you wash your hair nicely, Yasha-kun," Usagi said._

_InuYasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered. He grabbed Miroku by the back of his collar and pulled him out the door. "Hurry up, houshi!" he shouted, dragging him behind him._

"_Ne, Usagi, how come you always treat InuYasha like a baby?" Shippo asked._

"_Well, I suppose the answer would be because I love him like he's my own child," Usagi replied. She smiled and brought Chibi-Usa into her arms. "Yasha-kun is very dear to me and I had done everything possible to make sure that he was kept safe and healthy, but that was before I had to go away, leaving him behind."_

"_I heard from InuYasha that you're not married," Sango said, "It's pretty rare to see a woman your age not wedded."_

_A tiny sly smile appeared on Usagi's face as she stared at Sango. "Girls are usually around your age when they are already married, so what's your excuse?" she asked. She glanced at Kagome and said, "And I'm guessing that at your time, girls your age are in school in hopes for getting a better future." She smiled with amusement in her blue eyes as she spotted deep red blushes on both their faces. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure that some day in the nearby future, Miroku-san and Yasha-kun will come around and realize how you two feel about them."_

_Kagome wasn't as shocked because she figured out that Usagi knew when she came to her world to speak to her. But Sango's expression was completely different. "EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!" Sango screamed, staring at her in complete shock. After all, just how was she able to figure it out when the two were too hardheaded or were too busy thinking about past flames, or any other female, in Miroku's case, to realize that they like them._

_The looks on their faces seems like they wanted to ask how she knew that, but Usagi looked away and stared down at Chibi-Usa, who looked ready to fall asleep soon. "But what Yasha-kun said was true, I declined every man that asked my hand in marriage. It didn't matter to me, whether he was a lord or a commoner, but what made me not marry any of them was because, one, I didn't love any of them, and two, everyone told me to leave Yasha-kun behind or kill him."_

_Kagome's eyes widened. "She mentioned about her charge was a hanyou," she said silently, "And that charge was InuYasha? How is that possible?" She studied Usagi carefully. "Is she a youkai? But it can't be, Miroku-sama, Shippo-chan, and Kaede-baachan all said that she has the scent and aura of a ningen."_

_Usagi looked at Kagome and smiled. "I'll explain everything later on," she said, "Depending on whether or not Yasha-kun wants the story told."_

_Shippo stared down at the floor and thought about Usagi's actions and the way she would treat InuYasha and Chibi-Usa with such love and care, it reminded him of how his mother would care for him, wanting him to be a strong kitsune youkai(4) and be able to protect himself and the people dear to him. If there was ever a chance for him to be reincarnated, he would like it if Usagi would be born as his mother or sister._

!-!

(Miroku's POV)

Usagi-san proved to be quite an enigma to us. I don't know if it was because of her mysterious connection to InuYasha or the fact that she knew how to fight pretty well. But what really intrigues me is the amount of knowledge she has about the world around us. Her eyes were very beautiful, wide and pure, but they also held a form of wisdom I had never seen before. She also knew so much about life and death, almost as if she had lived through more than even the eldest, priest, or monk of every village here in Japan.

(Normal POV) _Everyone was still continuing on the journey, probably wandering aimlessly, in hopes of coming across someone who has any of the Shikon shards in their possession. Deciding to take a small break after InuYasha got tired of hearing Shippo and Kagome complaining about getting exhausted, everybody settled down near the riverside. _

_Everybody was doing his or her thing to pass by the time. Sango was washing the giant boomerang in the river. Shippo and Chibi-Usa were playing in the river, skipping and splashing along the ankle-deep water. InuYasha was lying on the grass with his eyes closed. Miroku was staring at the textbooks Kagome had brought with her, wondering how to decipher the English words. Kagome was staring at her workbooks, trying to understand what her teachers had taught during those many days that she was absent._

_Usagi glanced over Kagome's shoulder and stared at the book as if she could understand what was written. She watched as Kagome was trying to complete the math problems and shook her head. She recognized it as one of the many math problems Ami had always helped her complete. She grabbed Kagome's hand that was holding the pencil. "Kagome-chan, you did this problem all wrong," she said._

_Everybody stared at her in response to her statement. Any lesson Kagome had learned in her own time was unknown and more advance to everyone else in this time. If Kagome would to ever get a problem wrong on her work in those books, none of them would ever be able to tell. And now, Usagi, who is from this time, or so they believe, was able to understand and know if Kagome had gotten it wrong or not. _

_Miroku's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Usagi tutor Kagome in math and then switched to English. He was really suspicious as Usagi was actually talking to Kagome in English and trying to have her respond back. Then something caught his attention, there was something within the waters and it appeared to be coming towards them. A large wave and splash had awokened everyone from their curiosity of Usagi. They quickly turned to the river and saw a huge blue snake-like dragon coming out of water and stared at them. All the usual fighters jumped to their feet and got ready to fight._

_"Don't attack it," Usagi said straight out, still seated on the grass with her feet tucked in underneath her. Everyone once again stared at her based on her statement. Chibi-Usa was sitting right next to her and was also staring at her mother curiously. "That youkai won't attack you unless you attack back," she said, sipping from the tin can of tea. She stared at the youkai and smiled at it with a form of familiarity. Everyone watched as the youkai seemingly nodded its head and dove back into the waters, without another glance at them._

"_How did you know that?" Miroku asked, "Youkais would usually attack any ningen they see, especially if we're too close to their territory."_

"_The reason why they would attack is because they either felt threatened or because we attacked them first," Usagi answered. She handed the can over to Chibi-Usa to finish the rest of the drink. "It may seem a bit weird, but my family has devoted their entire life learning and discovering about youkais before I was even born," she added._

"_I never heard about a family of ningens that held youkais into such high consideration," Kagome said, settling the sack of arrows and wooden bow down._

_Sango nodded her head. "Almost every ningen I had met would usually attack or run away from any youkais that come near them," she said._

_InuYasha stared at the water where the dragon youkai had vanished. "Usagi's family had spent their whole lives trying to teach ningens and youkais to live together in harmony. Her ojii(5) died in a flash flood that was devastating some youkais who couldn't escape from it. Her baba(6) was killed trying to stop a bunch of idiotic ningen from murdering a pregnant youkai, who couldn't defend herself while her mate had left to battle an enemy. Her hahaue and chichiue had died in a bandit raid on their travel to see a few friends," he said._

_Shippo stared at InuYasha with his green eyes blinking every five seconds before speaking. "How come you know so much about Usagi's family?" he asked._

_InuYasha refused to answer the question and continued to stare at the river. Usagi smiled softly and brushed her unbound hair away from her eyes. Miroku's eyes narrowed and said, "The only family I had ever heard about to be so devoted to the study of youkais would be the Tsukinos, but unfortunately the last member had died over a hundred years ago."_

"_In due time, houshi," Usagi said playfully, "Everything will be revealed." She just smiled at the monk with a look on her face that says that there are a hundred things that are being hidden from the group, that was getting Miroku to be very suspicious of the young blonde, but he kept it to himself, in fear of upsetting the hanyou even more._

_(1) Heaven belongs to Hamasaki Ayumi. The translation to the song is below._

What you offered straight to me  
With a smile for the last time  
Was just so beautiful  
That I gave way to tears

Surely, that day  
The two of us touched love

We sought for each other  
Lost ourselves at times  
And found each other at last  
So whatever result may be waiting for us

It's nothing but  
Destiny

la la la la la la la la la la  
la la la la la la la la la la

In the sky you set out for  
Stars are shining tenderly upon me

Stay by my side, my love  
Crossing over time and changing your shape  
You see? The future we haven't yet seen  
Remains here like this

Stay by my side, my love  
Crossing over time and changing your shape  
The future we haven't yet seen  
Remains here

Trust me, my love  
You live within me  
So I'll never  
Say good-bye to you

Surely, that day  
The two of us touched love 

(2) 'Ecchi' means pervert

(3) 'Inu youkai' means dog demon

(4) 'Kitsune youkai' means fox demon

(5) 'Ojii' means grandpa

(6) 'Baba' means grandma

**Me**: I had finally finished this chapter! Yay me! There goes the small celebration, so here comes what I believe everyone has been waiting for. I'm sooooooo sorry for not being able to update this chapter. (covers head and sobs)

**Usagi**: (pats my back) It's okay, everyone has their days. Yours just happens to be everyday because of school.

**Me**: True. Well, I'll try to update quicker, from now on. Of course, there's no real promise that I can. Get ready for the next chapter. Naraku will finally make his move and one of the characters will die.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch8

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

* * *

Naraku watched in slight fascination at Kanna's mirror. Even in watching the Inu-tachi for the few weeks, especially this mysterious blond female, he could tell that he was gonna have more fun than he ever had in the past. But what really surprises him was the fact that even though she was a ningen, there was something about this woman that makes him shake whether with fear or excitement, it didn't matter. Throughout his travel over Japan, he had never seen anyone with that bright golden hair or those bright blue eyes.

A smile slowly inched its way to his face as he thought of something. "Kagura, come here," he ordered. When the kaze youkai walked up to him, Naraku brought a hand to the mirror as its image of Usagi maximized. "There is a youkai called Ryu no Fuyu somewhere in the west, who I heard has been stealing souls of young women and placing them in a doll. The very image of this doll resembles this woman who is with InuYasha. Perhaps we can persuade him to get rid of InuYasha and his pathetic group of friends, in return of what he wants," he said, "And I have a feeling that what he wants is this girl." He handed Kagura a shard and motioned Kanna to go with her.

"You were never one to pay people back entirely, Naraku," Kagura said, "I figured you would want to kill the girl as well."

Naraku shook his head. "No, that woman may prove to be quite useful," he said. He chuckled deeply. "Not everything is as they seem," he added.

"So if this guy manages to kill them, you want us to get rid of him," Kagura said. She sighed and opened her fan. "Well, let's get this over with," she said with a bored tone, "Come on, Kanna."

Naraku watched with a sickening grin on his face as Kagura and Kanna vanished outside. "This might prove to be quite interesting," he said, thinking of the possible endings of the lives of his enemies.

/-/

Kagura and Kanna leapt off the feather as it shrunk back in the air with Kagura grabbing it to put back in her hair. They stood in front of large house made of stone. There was a whole in the roof where thick black clouds of smoke were emitting from the building. Kanna glanced down into her mirror and said in a soft tone, "We best be careful. He's powerful." Kagura just grinned smugly at Kanna's warning. She opened her fan and swung it at the door's direction, causing strong wind to break the doors.

Inside the accommodation there stood a powerful tall youkai. He had long sleek black hair that reached about his waist with a single white ribbon to tie it into a somewhat loose ponytail. His narrow green eyes stared at the two who had disturbed him. He wore a gray kimono-like uniform with pants and black armor on his shoulders and chest area.

Surrounding him were life-size clay dolls, all looking exactly like the one before it with long blond hair and blue eyes. Kagura was quite surprised to see the similar features the doll possesses just as Usagi. "Are you Ryu no Fuyu?" Kagura asked, glancing at the dolls cautiously.

"Yes, I am," he replied, "What business do you have to disturb my ritual?" He turned back to the doll that was chained to the floor. In his hand he held a bluish orb close to his chest; he slowly extended his arm out and the orb flew over to the doll's body, vanishing into it. "Perhaps this time, it will be correct," he said, staring at what was happening with anxious eyes.

Kagura stared at the orb and asked, "What is that thing?"

"A soul," Kanna replied. Kagura stared at Kanna, who didn't acknowledge her gaze and continued speaking, "A soul belonging to a ningen."

The orb entered into the doll and was immediately consumed by light as both the soul and body combined. The doll blinked its blue eyes and glanced around cautiously at first. Ryu (AN: For the sake of time and my laziness, I'm only calling him Ryu) released the breath he was holding in before and felt elastic that his efforts had finally paid off, but then the doll started to cry and begged to be released. The relief in Ryu's eyes was gone as he glared at the doll as it screamed with tears trailing down from its eyes. "Another failure," he muttered. He held his hand out and a large black sword came out of thin air. "You are not the one I desire," he said angrily, "Your soul is doing nothing but tainting my precious doll. Get out." And with those last two words, he sliced the doll in half, setting the spirit free, but before it could fly back to the body where it was stolen from, the dragon destroyed the soul, therefore creating a chain reaction of the comatose young girl's body to erupt into flames back in her village.

"Could the girl you're trying to resurrect from the doll be known as Usagi?" Kagura asked. When she saw Ryu look at her in shock, she knew that she was correct.

"How do you know her name?" Ryu asked. His green eyes watched Kagura carefully.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just go out kidnap her?" Kagura asked, not bothering to answer his question.

"Kidnap her?" he repeated. Ryu laughed and shouted, "Kidnap her what? Her remains?" He turned around, still laughing, as he walked over to the doll. He picked up the sliced up doll in his arms, all joking had ended, and stared at it as if it was a real live person that had died.

Kagura had no idea what he was talking about. He speaks of her as if she's dead, but if the same woman he's thinking about and the woman she's referring to is dead, than who exactly is traveling around with InuYasha. "I don't know what you're talking about, but the Usagi I saw is actually quite alive," she said, "She has the exact same features as this doll you're trying to bring to life."

Ryu slashes his arm in her direction and shouted, "What lies you're telling? There's no way that Usa is still alive…no way! How could she be if she has been dead for over a hundred years?"

Kagura glanced down at Kanna, who mirror revealed a very much alive Usagi in its reflection, shocking the dragon very much. "Does she look dead to you?" Kagura asked. The look on the demon's face made her wonder just who this mysterious girl is. "She's currently in the company of a hanyou that goes by the name of InuYasha."

"InuYasha, huh?" Ryu shook his head before tilting it back, laughing as if something was very funny. "Impressive, even after death, they were still able to reunite again. However that doesn't exactly mean that I believe you. Why should I when I had saw her die with my very own eyes?"

"There's something called reincarnation," Kagura said. She held out her hand with a Shikon shard on it. "Use this as a gift from my _master_," she said, saying the last word through her clenched teeth, "In exchange, you kill InuYasha and his friends."

Ryu took the shard from Kagura. Even from touching it slightly, he was able to feel the immense power coming from it. "You want me to kill InuYasha?" he asked, "If I do this, Usa will hate me for the rest of my life. She'll want nothing to do with me."

"If you manage to kill him, then we'll help you brainwash her into loving you," Kagura said.

Ryu thought about it, as the plan seemed to work in his favor. He may not had hated InuYasha, but he did couldn't stand him for having Usagi think of him like he was the only thing that mattered. She even had died for that little hanyou, despite the fact that those pathetic bandits were the ones that actually killed her, what made him truly dislike the silver-haired hanyou was the fact that she perished trying to protect him. Ryu's hand clenched tightly into a tight fist around the shard as a crooked grin appeared on his face. "If I get rid of InuYasha, you'll help me get Usa, correct?" He placed the shard into his armor over his chest as black scales covered the metal piece over the shard and felt the power surge through his body.

/-/

The group had landed into another village where they would spot a sad group of adults carrying a burned body of a young woman out to be buried. This had been the fourth village they've passed by this past week where a young woman was mysteriously comatose and then her body would burn with no explanation. According to many different villages, this type of unknown ritual had been happening for the past hundred years, causing many villagers to be frightened for their safety, as the culprit behind it was a youkai.

"Have any of you noticed that every one of those bodies have been girls?" Sango asked, "They've got to be nor more than twenty years old."

"They're also known to be very beautiful and kind as well," Miroku said. He sighed sadly, "What a waste," only to have Sango hit him on the head.

Usagi stared at the charred body with sad eyes. "Her soul's missing," she said out loud. Everyone stared at her in puzzlement, "The reason why she was in a coma was because her soul was stolen and once the soul was destroyed, so is the body."

"If you knew then why didn't you tell us in the first place?" Shippo asked.

"That's because they've already buried the body," Usagi answered. She thought back to the fights she had against Chaos and its underlings when they've stolen people's starseeds, or rather their souls, rendering them to either becoming comatose or a youma.

"But why girls?" Kagome asked, "The only youkai I could think about that would steal souls is Kanna, but she doesn't destroy them or choose her victims by gender, age, and personality."

"Yasha-kun, let's continue walking," Usagi said, "Perhaps we would come across some clues as to who this culprit is." She held a strong grip on Chibi-Usa's hand. "I have a strong feeling that this culprit is someone we've met before."

InuYasha looked at Usagi and nodded hesitantly. It would be dangerous if Naraku was doing this, but he had only been around for the past fifty years and these attacks have been around for about a hundred years. Just who is doing this and for what reason? His gut instinct tells him that the answer he seeks would be something he might not want to hear. After telling the villagers that they'll try to find the one responsible and avenge the deceased girls, the group continued on their journey. They were so busy trying to piece the puzzle together that they didn't notice that they were being watched.

Usagi stopped walking, catching the attention of her daughter, brother and friends. "I sense a shard near by," she said.

Kagome looked confused for a second. "You sure?" she asked, "I don't sense anything."

Usagi's closed her eyes and concentrated on the shard's presence. "It's being shielded by something," she said, opening her eyes once more.

"Okaa-san, is it that youkai that's been stealing those souls?" Chibi-Usa asked, clutching onto Usagi's arm with a frightened look in her eyes.

"Perhaps," Usagi replied, still glancing around.

Ryu's eyes widened when he heard what Chibi-Usa had called Usagi. "So, she already mated with someone," he said softly, eyeing the group, or rather the little girl clinging to Usagi, "No matter, mated or not, she will belong to me." And with that, he vanished, only to have appeared in front of his targets.

Usagi and Kagome shielded Chibi-Usa and Shippo behind them as Sango, Miroku, and InuYasha stood in front of them, ready to attack. InuYasha and Usagi silently wondered why this stranger seemed familiar and why he's staring intently at Usagi with a look of hunger in his eyes. InuYasha's golden eyes narrowed when he saw just how focused the stranger's gaze was on his sister. "Who the hell are you?" the hanyou barked, "And what do you want?"

"I'm surprised that you don't remember me, brat," Ryu said, only glancing at the younger hanyou for a second before looking back at Usagi, "After all, I was the one who saved you from those bandits all those years ago."

Usagi studied the tall youkai and knew that with the way he carried himself that he was very powerful. Her eyes widened when she finally recognized him. "Ryu-san, is that you?" Usagi asked, walking over to him slowly with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Usa," Ryu whispered softly, "When I heard that you came back, I felt like all my efforts to bring you back weren't even needed."

Usagi pondered what he meant when she had noticed a dark aura surrounded the dragon youkai, the very same aura that surrounded the dead girl's body over at the village. "It was you," she gasped, stopping. She took a step back and covered her mouth in shock. Everyone stared at her, wondering what had just happened. "You were the one who stole that poor girl's soul and all those other ones."

"I remember that girl, very pretty and seems to be very nice," Ryu said, as if what he had done was nothing wrong, "But she was nothing but a hypocrite, doing nothing except tainting my precious doll."

"Doll?" Miroku repeated in his mind. He had heard of people creating dolls and then sealing a soul in them. Kikyou was an example of such witchcraft, however Kikyou was dead and her remains was used to create the doll. So why does he have a sneaky suspicion that this doll was meant to create a replica of Usagi with the way Ryu was staring at the blonde.

Ignoring the guarding stares of the group in front of him, Ryu shrugged his shoulders. "The soul was about as useless as all the other hundreds during the past century, so I destroyed it."

"That useless soul belongs to an innocent young girl," Kagome shouted, getting her bow and arrow ready.

Sango held tightly onto her giant boomerang. "You're despicable," she yelled, "I would gladly slice you in half."

Usagi stood rooted in her place as InuYasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku rushed over to attack him. She couldn't believe her eyes and ears. The Ryu no Fuyu she had met those years ago was always so gentle and willing to lend a hand in her chores. She had trusted him, letting him have access to her home and everything. Was there a side to him that she did not see? Or perhaps it had something to do with the small shard attached to his chest.

"Minna!" Shippo shouted, snapping Usagi from her thoughts.

Usagi watched as the four fighters were losing against Ryu. That sword holds as much power as his own body and if he ever uses his weapon that means that he is serious and not playing around. He could be quite merciless when he could be. "Ryu-san, why?" she shouted, after not being able to watch him torment her friends anymore, "You weren't like this before. What caused you to be like this?"

Ryu slowly walked over to a tearing Usagi, leaving an injured group of friends behind him. "You never knew, did you?" he asked gently, stopping not too far from her, "I've loved you for so long. Ever since she glanced at me without fear, so full of compassion when I was injured. I wanted you to be my mate, but those filthy bandits ruined everything. As your body was cremated with everyone showing and respect and mourning, the feeling of hate grew until I sought to create a doll and encase soul similar to yours, but each and every one of those souls were useless. They only pretended to be kind and nice to attract a future mate."

"It was wrong. What you were doing was wrong, Ryu-san," Usagi shouted, shaking her head, "You can't go randomly killing people for a selfish reason like that!"

Ryu chuckled. "You haven't changed a bit, Usa, but enough talk," he said, "You're mine!" From that, his body started to grow bigger as he transforms into his true self. Black scales covered his entire body from head to toe. His green eyes flashed red as sharp teeth grew in. His hands and legs extended with sharp claws. His body stretched to be almost as long as a river. Ryu no Fuyu had grown into a full size dragon with a single shard hidden in the scales over his chest.

Usagi stood her ground and was ready to defend herself as Ryu's hand reached out to grab her, but instead she felt herself be pushed aside by Chibi-Usa. "Chibi-Usa," she gasped and watched in shock and horror as Ryu threw the young child to the side, hitting a tree roughly and slid to the floor motionless. She quickly rushed over to her daughter's side.

InuYasha glared at Ryu and jumped in front of him. "You bastard," he growled with his sword clenched tightly in his hands. "You're going down!" he shouted, slashing the sword down as his wind scar ran towards the dragon.

Ryu just slammed his tail down, creating an eruption of dust and soil to shield him, blocking the attack. "You're about as pathetic as you were all those years ago. You're weak and you'll never be able to get stronger," he snarled, "You were the reason she died, it was all your fault!"

"Go to hell!" InuYasha shouted, charging to the dragon.

Chibi-Usa slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see Usagi crying over her broken body. There was a sharp pain erupting all over the place from her head to her legs. She felt the blood she had coughed out drip down her chin and couldn't help but grin, despite the pain. "I did it, okaa-san," she whispered, "I was able to help you."

Usagi couldn't help but smile weakly back to her daughter. "Oh, small lady, you were always helping me, even if all you were doing was standing by my side," she said. She placed a hand over her heart shaped locket. "Now hold still, I'm going to heal you."

"Don't," Chibi-Usa pleaded, "If you us it, then everyone will find out. They'll try to hurt you to get it." She tried to crawl over to Usagi, but due to her injuries, she wasn't able to move in a way it wouldn't hurt. As if knowing what she had wanted to do, Usagi carefully lifted her daughter's body into her arms, as a fierce battle between the two groups continued in front of her. Chibi-Usa leaned her head over Usagi's chest and listened to her mother's heartbeat. "Okaa-san, ari…gato," she said, slowly slipping into darkness.

"For what, small lady?" Usagi asked, using the nickname she would've used on Chibi-Usa if she was born in Crystal Tokyo.

"For…loving me," Chibi-Usa said. Her red eyes started to shut themselves one last time as she whispered with a hint of happiness, "I love you, okaa-san." And then silence.

"Chibi-Usa?" Usagi called out softly. Her heard raced as she took noticed of how her body started to get heavy in her arms. Usagi brought the body close to her best, hugging it with all she's got, not caring if there was going to be bloodstains on her clothes. She had lost her baby girl again. The first time was when Endymion had perished in the hands of Chaos and now this. Tears ran down her cheek as Chibi-Usa's body grew colder and heavier with each passing second. "No," she whispered softly as she pulled back to brush the pink hair back and wipe the blood off of her cheek. Crushing her into the tight embrace once more, Usagi shouted at the top of her lungs, "NO!"

Everyone stopped and stared in shock as a bright light was emitting from Usagi and surrounded the entire forest. Those with good pure hearts felt comfort in the warmth of the light while those who had done wrong things could feel their hearts crying to be saved or forgiven for what they had done. The inu-tachi and the dragon didn't know what was going on as an unknown force immediately pushed them down. The light had vanished with Ryu lying on the floor as his body began to disintegrate into dust and vanished with only the shard left in his place.

InuYasha was sitting on the floor with a complete blank look on his face. He searched around to see that his friends were unconscious and that all their wounds had healed. He gasped and quickly turned to see his sister still crying over her daughter's body. "Aneue?" he whispered softly, crawling over to her carefully.

Usagi looked up and whispered, "I could've saved her, but she…she told me not to." She glanced back to Chibi-Usa's sleeping appearance. "All this happened because of me," she said, glancing back and forth from where Ryu's body once was and to Chibi-Usa in her arms.

"No! It wasn't your fault!" the hanyou said, "It was because I was weak and you sacrificed your life to protect me back then. If only I was stronger then you wouldn't have to die. Ryu was in love with you, aneue, which was why he did all that."

Usagi watched as Chibi-Usa's body slowly break up into dust and vanish into the wind. She sighed and rubbed the redness out of her eyes. "Yasha-kun, I think I should go by myself for a while," she said, already missing the warmth from the child's body. She glanced up at her surrogate brother and patted him on the head gently. "There's something I want to find out," she said, "Just what is it that I'm here for?"

He stared at her and wondered softly, "Isn't it to be with me? So we could be together again, isn't that reason?"

Usagi hugged InuYasha tightly and said, "Of course it is, but I'm pretty sure that there's something else that I'm needed for. Perhaps to help you against your enemy or to find someone to spend my life with. Nothing happens without a reason, Yasha-kun." She opened her locket and willed the crystal to break a small piece away; taking the shard, she hid it into his beaded necklace. "If anything happens, I'll know. This will serve in my place, to protect you until we meet again." She gave him one last hug before letting go.

InuYasha sat there and hugged her back. He wanted nothing more than to never let go and keep her by his side. But as much as he wants to do that, he can't be selfish to deny his most precious person her wish. "Promise me that we'll meet each other again," he whispered, letting go reluctantly.

Usagi smiled and planted a kiss on his forehead. "I promise," she said. She got up and started to walk away. "Try not to go after me, all right, Yasha-kun? This is my mission," she said, turning around.

InuYasha nodded his head. "As long as you don't take forever to see me," he promised. "Be careful," his heart shouted as he watched Usagi walk away.

* * *

AN: So ends Chibi-Usa's part in the story. The reason why I added Ryu no Fuyu into this story was because I wanted to have a mystery start to arise as Naraku and Miroku wants to know more about Usagi. Ryu no Fuyu pretty much translate to Dragon of Winter, since winter is the season of death and he was going around killing young women, the name seemed to fit him perfectly.  



	9. Chapter 9

Ch9

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

Kagome woke up and stared around cautiously, that was when she realized that her wounds had all been healed and that Ryu no Fuyu, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa were missing. She gasped and asked frantically, "InuYasha, where's Usagi-san and Chibi-Usa-chan?" Were they kidnapped?"

"No, she left," InuYasha said, he handed her the shard he picked up. "She said that she wanted to explore by herself to figure something out."

"But why didn't she tell us?" Sango asked. She had just woken up and heard what InuYasha had told Kagome, "And who destroyed Ryu no Fuyu."

"What happened to Chibi-Usa?" Shippo asked, getting worried about his playmate. The last time he saw her was when she crashed into the three when Ryu threw her. "Is she okay?"

InuYasha shook his head. "Chibi-Usa…she didn't make it. Usagi left when she died," he said, "It was Usagi who got rid of Ryu, or rather, set his soul free."

Miroku stared at his hanyou friend and felt that he was hiding something from tehm. "Ryu no Fuyu mentioned something about Usagi-san being dead, would you mind explaining that to us, InuYasha?" he asked, "After all, you're the only one who really knows what's going on."

InuYasha turned around. "It's none of your business," he barked angrily, "I'll tell you when I feel like it and anyway, she's not dangerous, so there's nothing to worry about." He refused to tell them. Nobody must know that Usagi was his sister, surrogate or not, she gave up everything for him, her dream of getting married and starting a family on her own and even her own life. He can't let them know that his desire to be a full-blooded youkai was his way to repent for being a weakling and having Usagi die to protect him. He wanted to be strong so none of his love ones will ever sacrifice their lives for him again.

/-/

Usagi had wandered down a path that led to a quiet village she had seen from a nearby hill. When she left InuYasha's group, she tied her long blond hair into a low ponytail and covered it with a long golden scarf so she won't be mistaken for a youkai, though she could do nothing about her eyes.

As she walked to her present destination, Usagi couldn't help but think about what had just happened. Never in her life had she realized that Ryu no Fuyu truly did love her or was obsessed enough to try and resurrect her a soul from an innocent girl. She didn't know that her death would caused something this tragic to happen, she knew that hundreds of her friends and her brother would mourn, but she didn't think that they'll do certain things that'll hurt others around them.

"Why is someone always getting hurt because of me?" she asked, "Everything…everyone's always dieing…" She stopped walking and fell to her knees as she hid her face into her hands and started to cry all over again. "Maybe I shouldn't had come back, then none of this would be happening and Yasha-kun wouldn't be hurting."

"But if you had never returned here, then I'm afraid that he would still be hurting rather than rejoicing for the return of his sister," a familiar voice said. Usagi turned around and saw the spirit of the past lunarian queen standing there with the same kind and understanding smile.

"Okaa-san," Usagi said. She rushed over to her mother from her first life time and sobbed into her embrace. "I could've saved her, okaa-san, I could've healed her wounds and save her from death," she said.

"Oh, Sere, you know as well as I do that everything happens for a reason," Selene told the crying princess, "Chibi-Usa was actually a pawn of a great evil in this world, no matter how she may act on her own free will. It would've been much better for her if she had perished saving the mother loves and adores rather than to be killed by him directly." She wiped the tears off of Usagi's cheeks and held her in a cradling way. "And don't worry about InuYasha, I think he understands that you need this time alone more than anything."

Usagi buried her face into her mom's shoulder and listened to soft heartbeat that's surprisingly there even after death. "But me being there is still hurting him so much," she murmured.

"No," Selene said, resting her cheek on top of Usagi's head, "You being there has given him hope one more. And now you need to give that hope to others as well, just as you had done in the past. That must be your destiny here, your purpose."

"Okaa-san, what's with the wedding kimono?" Usagi asked, changing the topic. Usagi had remembered the kimono in her bag and couldn't help but wonder what her mother could be thinking. Although she had a certain idea what could be going through her mind is the same idea she had when Usagi told her that she had accepted Endymion's proposal. After all, all mothers thought of this after hearing about their child's future, her mother, lunarian queen or not, was no exception; grandchildren is what every mother thinks about when their own children are getting married.

Selene just smiled at Usagi with the same 'you shall see' smile Setsuna had often shown her. "That's for you to discover on your own, Sere," Selene said, "Perhaps you can find your other half in this lifetime and we can see your darling Chibi-Usa come back." Strangely enough when the queen mentioned Chibi-Usa's name, her light violet eyes glistened.

"Yup, she wants grandchildren," Usagi sighed mentally, shaking her head. Just then loud cries of help echoed into the air from the village below. "Okaa-san, you better…" Usagi turned around to see that her mother had already left. A small smile appeared on her face before turning around and running in the direction of the screaming.

/-/

It was a peaceful day over at a small village located right by a lake. Children were running around and playing with each other. The women were washing clothes in the river as the men worked on the fields. When all of a sudden, a large gust of wind blew through the village, stopped everyone in their tracks. A loud roar echoed from the direction of the waters, catching everyone's attentions.

A large wolf was rushing in their direction. The top half of its entire body was covered with blue fur while the bottom was white; it had a wavy tail that never seems to touch the ground with mist coming out from its paws. It stood to be about the size of Kirara when she becomes big enough to battle. Its dark blue eyes kept flickering to red and back as it shook its head from side to side. A glisten from the sun revealed a shikon shard attached to its head, right between its eyes. As it raced along the water, the top turned to ice as the liquid underneath turned to pitch black, polluting the once pure substance. Not once had the creature paid attention to the destruction of the lake as it tried to rid itself of the headache the shard had caused him. The terrified screaming from the villagers weren't helping, in fact, it only made it worse; now all the wolf could think about was getting rid of those who were screaming and hurting his head even more.

The women grabbed the children and pulled them into the houses as the men grabbed whatever tools they can and tried to keep the wolf at bay. The wolf demon growled in defense as gardening hoes and fishing spears were pointed at him; the demons ran towards them and opened his mouth as a bluish orb appeared and fired it at the men, who quickly jumped to avoid it and watched in horror as the tree turned to ice.

Just when they all feared for their lives are now beyond saving, Usagi ran over and threw Venus's whip around the wolf's snout. "Get out of here," she said, "I'll hold it off while you try to get away." She pulled hard and then noticed the disbelief and doubt in the men's eyes. "Do what I say unless you want to be wolf food!" she said angrily. "Men," she scoffed and rolled her eyes when they finally started doing what she told them to do.

Usagi turned her attention to the bluish-white wolf. "You remind me so much about this certain ookami youkai," she said with a soft smile, trying to calm it down. When she had arrived at the scene, she noticed the shard on its forehead and realized that perhaps this youkai was just scared and reacting on its survival instincts, considering it was still a baby. "Maybe you're a relative of hers since her kind is very rare…or you could possibly be…" Usagi paused and stared into the wolf's flickering eyes and gasped, "Suicine."

The wolf stopped snarling and his tugging when he heard his name. He stared at Usagi, who just stared back with a shocked look on her face. "It is you, isn't it, Suicine?" Usagi whispered. The wolf then got frightened even more than before and continued thrashing about. Usagi kept her grip on the chain tight as she slowly inched her way to her target. "It's alright, Suicine, I won't hurt you. Don't you remember me? I was the one helping your mother when she gave birth to you. I was the one who gave you your name."

Suicine stopped thrashing and just stared at Usagi with frightened and confused eyes and snarled at her, still not trusting humans or anyone in that manner. However as Usagi crept closer and closer to him, he managed to sense that she won't hurt him, not to mention, he felt the same warmth and comfort he had once felt from the only human who had ever shown kindness to him and his mother. It was then, Suicine recognized her as the young girl who cradled him in her arms countless times with a small silver-haired hanyou by her side; he lay down on the floor to show his submission towards Usagi.

Usagi sighed in relief and then knelt down beside Suicine. She patted him gently on the head and then plucked the shard out; she hid the shard in her subspace pocket when Suicin knocked her over. The villagers all shouted in fear, thinking that he was attacking her, but when they heard Usagi laughing, they realize that the once violet wolf was now acting like a playful pup, licking Usagi's cheek and nuzzling into her neck. But as Suicine continued to give the woman he hasn't seen for so long a 'welcome-back' cuddle, he had loosened the scarf and revealed Usagi's blond hair.

"Look, she's a youkai as well," one of the men said, "Let's kill her while we have the chance."

"Wait, what if she's not like the rest of them?" his wife asked, "After all, she did save our lives."

"It could be a trick," another man said, "You know, to lower our guards down and then send that wolf to attack us."

Everybody watched in fear and anticipation as Usagi stood up and glance back and forth from the villagers to the polluted lake. Usagi whispered softly into the wolf's ears and pointed slightly to the people. When Suicine glanced at them, they all thought that he was going to kill them, but to their surprise, Suicine walked over to the frozen contaminated water source and with the first single stomp, the ice had thawed out and melted away; when his muzzle touched the water, all the poison evaporated out of the water, leaving it as the pure substance it once was.

"She's no youkai, she's a tenshi," the children shouted in excitement. In their eyes, Usagi was an angel that saved their lives and made a demon bent on destroying them, help them instead.

Usagi knew that she couldn't hide her natural hair color so she pulled the scarf off and smiled at the still wary villagers. "It's all right. Suicine won't hurt you anymore," she said, "In fact, he wants to say sorry for scaring you." She nodded her head to the large wolf, signaling him to bow his head down as a sign of apology.

While the adults were still cautious, the children just cheered and laughed as they ran over to Usagi, all eager to meet this young woman, beautiful to be an angel, or a youkai to the adults, and be wearing clothes suited for a princess, and yet not be accompanied by guards or soldiers. Usagi laughed merrily as she knelt down and embraced the youngest child, it was then that the adults decided that she wasn't as harmful as they had thought, especially when Suicine was lying on floor as the children crawled all over him and he didn't seem to mind, in fact, he was playing with them.

"Ne, ne, Tenshi-sama, what's your name?" the child Usagi was hugging asked her.

Usagi laughed and thought that the little boy looked adorable so she hugged him even closer to her body. "I'm afraid that I'm not a tenshi, nor am I a youkai," she said, "I'm just an ordinary ningen like the rest of you, the only difference is that I'm not afraid of youkai and know the difference between who I could and could not trust."

"Onee-sama, what's your name?" a girl, only slightly older than the boy, asked. Even after finding out that she's just a regular human, it still amazed the children as they were in awe of her looks, strengths, as well as her kindness.

"My name is Usagi," the blonde told them, "And this is Suicine. I hope you'll forgive him for giving you a scare, he was being influenced by something bad."

"Of course we will," the elder told Usagi with a soft smile on his face. "May I ask what is your purpose here in our village?" he asked, hoping that he wasn't being too rude, but he was quite interested in Usagi, not in any perverted way, but it was quite rare to find a young woman who hasn't settled down already and started a family.

"I'm just on a journey and this village just happened to be one of the stops I've managed to find," Usagi said, "I just recently separated from my group when I decided to look for something."

"Oh perhaps, you can tell us what it is and we'll help you look for it," one of the mothers said, "After all, you did help us."

"Yes, let us repay you for saving our lives," another woman said.

Usagi was happy to hear that, but she shook her head. "Arigato, but I', afraid that you can't help me. What I'm looking for isn't a material item, rather something personal," she said. She sat down beside Suicine and patted him on the head. "I'm just searching for my purpose here. I know that I'm supposed to make a difference, but I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" the elder said, sitting down across from Usagi, "Maybe we can tell you if you made a difference or not."

"Well, watashi wa Usagi, I came from a well to do family. We are neither poor nor rich, nor do we wish for more in our lives. My parents, grandparents, all the way up to our ancestors had been trying to build a bridge between ningen and youkai. Some had said that our ancestors may had been the first hanyou, a cross between youkai and ningen, a separate class in itself; perhaps we hold a part that is still youkai because of our looks, even though we can die from a fatal wound and don't live any longer than ningen themselves. While trying to have both sides come together, my ancestors had gathered information on all sorts of youkai, knowing how is more likely to change and who wants to create mass genocide. Even after all these generations, my family still held onto a belief that ningen and youkai can and will coexist peacefully together. No one in my family had ever done anything to contradict our dream since we believe in marrying for love and know when someone lies about their love or concern towards youkai. That's my family history."

She took notice of everyone's awed and curious expressions and just smiled. InuYasha had the exact same look on his face when her parents had told him the same story. There had been powerful and influential men and women who gave up their power just to devote their time and energy to see the same dream happen. The Tsukino clan was once a very rich and powerful family with allies of youkai and ningen and nobody had the guts to attack, all fearing the youkai, who were mostly powerful leaders with hundreds of loyal minions. Many ningen, who didn't share the same view, had often thought of the Tsukino clan as being foolish to not use the power to dominate the world, but they were usually the ones who were the power greedy type. Then as time went on, the clan had decided to it would be best to separate and tried to spread their dream to others all around, not just in the local area. Dividing the wealth, the clan had settled in five directions of Japan, the north, south, east, west, and the center. However, due to the prejudice between both sides were strong, her ancestors had chosen to die with no heirs, fearing their dream would be tainted by hate, leaving only her direct ancestors to be the only ones left. And with her being the last of the clan left, it was up to her to continue the dream her ancestors had believed so passionately about, something that she too had hoped will happen.

Usagi just closed her eyes and shook her head slightly before opening them. "Where I came from, many people had looked down on what I've accomplished, but due to my family's popularity, they never rioted against me or my parents. I was taught to cherish those who are different, to not discriminate others. I followed in my family's footsteps in aiding youkai who were injured, pregnant, lost, or orphaned." She patted Suicine on the head and leaned slightly into the warm body. "Suicine was one of the many I had helped bring to the world, ningen and youkai. As you can see, I am neither married nor do I have children; I guess you could say that even if many men would ask for my hand in marriage, they disapproved of what I was doing. When I was just a child, I befriended a hime who had mated with a youkai and had a newborn hanyou as her son; unfortunately, her husband was killed in combat just after her son's birth. My family and I became the only who the hanyou treated as if he was a part of the kin, so even after I was the only left and his mother passed away, I took him in since he was like my otouto. I looked after him for so long, showing him that there was someone out there who doesn't hate the fact that he's a hanyou. Many men who came to me, often telling me to get rid of him, so I would marry them, but I refused; I would rather be single for the rest of my life if it meant I didn't have to marry those close minded men. I had known that hanyou ever since he was just a baby and I made him my otouto the minute I laid eyes one him. When his mother passed away, I sheltered him, showered him with love and care, comforted him when he cried…and yet…those pompous arrogant conceited idiots had the nerve to think that I'll actually leave him like that so I would marry them. How shallow did they think I was? I could care less when some of the men were lords or princes, there was no way that I was going to abandon him and my dream. But now…he has close friends, those who don't care that he's a hanyou, and he's beginning to learn how to truly trust others and fall in love. It was then I decided to separate and meet up with them later. I probably sound a bit selfish, leaving him like that."

"Actually you sound like a complete selfless person," a woman said, "If it were me, I probably would leave my family behind if it meant I could marry a prince." Several other women nodded their heads in agreement.

The elder stared at Usagi and was just surprised at what he had heard. In this time and era of war and greed, it's really rare to find someone still filled with innocence and wisdom. All of his life, he had thought that only the children would be innocent since they know nothing of the harsh reality until they are confronted by fear. But here is this young woman, who had seen many horrors that would have tarnished this child-like innocence in her, but it only seemed to have strengthen the purity her heard possesses. "If it's a question of what your purpose here, I'm afraid that only the gods know," he said with a gentle tone, "Bit if it's a question of did you make a difference, then I would have to say yes. With each person, youkai, and hanyou you've met, befriended, and helped, you made a difference in their lives, Usagi-san. No matter how small the amount of kindness you've bestowed on someone, they will always remember what you've done."

Usagi's blue eyes widened as she slowly smiled at the village elder. Her mothers from the past lifetimes had often said that very exact words to her. Despite in her lives, whether she was graceful or not, her family and friends had often said that it was her kindness that had changed people for the better and brought them out of the darkness. When she had aided so many youkai and hanyou who came by her way, she had often given them the evidence that there are people out there who aren't as judgmental and prejudice about them. _"No matter how small the amount of kindness you've bestowed on someone, they will always remember what you've done"_ those had been her hahaue's words during the time that she had cried as a child when an injured youkai she had found and helped get better, had to leave. The youkai had known that her leaving would upset her so she went over to Usagi and given her a friendly hug, whispering, _"Arigato, Usa-chan, I'll always remember the way you've helped me. You were the first ningen child to come to me with no fear in your eyes and you were the first to help me when I was injured rather than try to kill me. And for that, I'm grateful that I have you as a friend."_ Those words healed her broken heart and a bright smile grew on her face.

Usagi nodded her head at the elder and whispered, "Arigato, jii-san." She stood up and brushed the dust off her kimono as Suicine stood up after her. "Arigato, minna-san, for everything," she said, "And now I think I should continue on my journey."

"But it's getting late," an elderly woman said, "At night it's very dangerous for a young girl like you to be out with no companions. There are bandits and other strong youkai out there. Why don't you stay the night with us?" Usagi shook her head and tried to talk her way out, but the rest of the adults had continued persuading her until she finally relented and nodded her head, causing the villagers to cheer happily before dragging her to the elder's home.

AN: Sorry for the long delay. I've been very busy with work and school so I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted to. This is my present to all those who like my story so far. (starts jumping up and down) AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! I'm just so excited, I'm starting to act like a rabbit that got into a secret sugar compartment. Because...tomorrow is my birthday! I'm so happy! Anyway I'll try to update the rest of the chapters for my other stories. Send your reviews!


	10. Chapter 10

Ch10

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

"What do you mean you don't sense it anymore?" a loud cry echoed throughout the forest. A completely shocked InuYasha stared at Kagome with wide eyes and his jaw dropped open. Kagome had told them before that she felt a shard's presence in the opposite direction they were heading, but the minute they started going back, the brunet miko told them that she can no longer sense it.

"InuYasha, calm down," Miroku told him, waving his hands in front of the seething hanyou, "If Kagome-sama doesn't sense the shard then there's not much we can do about it."

"Bu it could be Naraku, for all we know!" InuYasha shouted.

"Then we'll investigate in the morning," Miroku told him, "If you haven't noticed, tonight _is_ the night of the full moon."

The silver haired hanyou's head tilted to the side. Everybody could imagine a rotating question mark by his head as he tried to connect what they were talking about. Not being able to take it anymore, Sango decided to start slow. "InuYasha, what happens when the moon doesn't appear in the sky?" she asked.

"I become a ningen," he replied in a 'well, duh' kind of tone.

"Are you weak during that time?" she asked again.

"What do you think?" he answered in an annoyed tone.

"Does Naraku know about this day?" she asked.

"Of course not! If he did, then we would be done for!" InuYasha shouted.

"Do you want him to find out?"

"Baka! Of course, I don't want him to!"

"Then we have to wait for morning to investigate," she said, thinking that he had understood what the whole interrogation was about.

"NANI!?! Why do we have to wait?" InuYasha shouted, still not getting it.

With that question, everybody just fell down and wanted to bash their heads to the ground. Kagome got annoyed and decided to explain it in terms that he could understand. "Osuwari!" With a loud bang, InuYasha was pulled to the ground by those beads around his neck. "If we go and end up meeting Naraku then he will find out about your day transforming into a ningen!"

"Then why didn't you tell me that straight out?" the inu hanyou shouted, pitting the dirt out of his mouth.

Everybody smacked themselves on the head and sighed, "Wasn't it obvious with the questions?"

/-/

"Onee-sama, do you really have to go," one of the children asked. The entire village came out to say goodbye to Usagi as the sun started to rise to the sky, or rather, the children tried to convince her to stay.

Usagi patted the small child on the head and smiled. "Gomen minna-chan, but I have to go," she said, "I'll try to visit again." She had received some food to last a few days from the villagers along with flowers from the children. She got on Suicine's back and waved goodbye. "Arigato, minna-chan, for everything."

"We should be the one thanking you," the elder said, "After all, if it weren't for you then this village would've been destroyed."

Usagi just laughed and said, "I would do what every good person would do." She waved at her new friends as Suicine bowed his head slightly before leaping over the waters and out of their sight quickly.

"Onee-sama's amazing," a little girl said, clinging to her mother.

"She really must've been a tenshi," another girl said.

"It must've come from here," an unfamiliar voice said from the village entrance. Everyone turned around to see InuYasha and his friends standing there and looking around.

"You sure, Kagome?" Shippo asked, "This place doesn't look like it's been through any trouble from Naraku."

"That's because of onee-sama," a boy said out loud.

Another child nodded his head. "Onee-sama saved us and made a youkai become good."

"Onee-sama?" InuYasha repeated. He walked over to the children and knelt down so he was about their height. "Hey, did this 'onee-sama' have long golden hair and bright blue eyes?" The children nodded their heads in reply, causing him to smile. "I see, so it was Usagi who found the shard."

"She took it off a youkai she called Suicine," a young woman told him.

"NO WAY! Suicine? Are you sure? A blue and white ookami youkai, right?" InuYasha asked. He laughed and ran his hand through his hair. "I never thought I'd see him again."

"InuYasha, you know this youkai called, 'Suicine'?" Sango asked.

"Ah, Usagi was the one who helped his mother when she was in labor. Suicine was the name she gave him," the hanyou said, "If he's with her, then I guess I don't have to worry about her safety as much."

"Would you happen to be that hanyou?" the elder asked, eyeing InuYasha carefully.

InuYasha stared at him and after a long silent pause, he asked, "Which hanyou? Usagi has helped many youkais and hanyous throughout her life."

The elder walked over to the inu hanyou with no fear or caution in his movements, to the gang's surprise, and whispered in his ear. InuYasha stared at him in shock and nodded his head. The rest of the gang had no clue what was going on and immediately assumed that it must be one of those secrets he was keeping from them.

"Come, why don't we tell you what happened last night at my home?" the elder said, walking towards his home with the small group following while the rest of the villagers carried out their chores.

/-/

After riding for several hours, the two travelers came across a large field with a river running through. Usagi got off of Suicine when he stopped in front of the river to drink the water from the river. She knelt down to study the flowers and was amazed with the variety in front of her. "There must be a hana youaki(1) around here, judging by how many there are," she mused to herself.

Then a child-like scream echoed in the air, causing Usagi to stand up quickly. Both her and Suicine ran towards the direction to the screams and found a little girl, or rather a young youkai, being surrounded by a bunch of male villagers. She had bright red hair that reached to her waist with dark blue eyes. Judging by a petal shaped birthmark, Usagi came to the conclusion that she was a hana youkai.

"Filthy youkai, it's because of these flowers you created that's destroying our crops!" one of the men shouted.

"You're wrong! Okaa and otou's flowers never do anything bad," the child shouted.

"I had just about enough of you scum," another man shouted, holding up an ax.

"Kohanam look out," two adult youkai rushed out to protect their child, only to immediately fall prey to the humans' weapons.

"Okaa! Otou!" Kohana shouted. Like the flowers they create, hana youkai are quite fragile and can die quite easily from a mortal wound any other youkai can survive from.

"Now it's your turn." The men turned towards the child.

"I think it's best if you gather up your facts first before attacking the innocent," Usagi said, walking towards them. "As you an see, she is clearly a hana youkai and they are known to be pacifists."

"Shut up, wench," one of them said, "Go back to the village where you belong and mind your own business. A woman's job should be tending her husband's needs and taking care of the house and children."

"But a woman's job is also to offer guidance to those who are lost," Usagi told them. Her lips formed a pout as she grew upset with the man's outburst about a woman's inferiority and anybody could tell her displeasure just by looking into her eyes. Usagi stared down at the flowers and knelt down to touch them. "These types of flowers are for healing purposes and could be found as the base for many medicines while these other flowers are to help purify the air." She stood up and said in a commanding tone, "Take me to your fields."

The men looked uneasy and didn't know what to do, but judging by her tone, they came to the conclusion that she knew what she was talking about. "Very well, but you better be right or else it's on your head, wench."

"My name is Usagi, not wench," the blonde told them. She walked over to the trembling child and lifted her up. "What is your name?" she asked her.

The small redhead looked at Usagi with a cautious look. "Kohana," she whispered, wondering why this woman appeared like a youkai but carries the scent of a ningen.

"Little flower," Usagi said, translating her name, "Cute." Releasing one of her hands, she brought if to her lips and gave out a loud whistle, bringing the large wolf out. "This here is Suicine," she said, introducing the two of them. Kohana looked at Suicine, wondering if he's going to eat her when Usagi's not looking. As if knowing what she was thinking, Usagi laughed and said, "Don't worry about a thing. Suicine won't hurt you, he's still just a puppy."

"You seem to be very comfortable with these youaki," one of the men said as they led the three to their village, "You must be one of them as well."

"Nope, I'm a ningen 100 percent ," Usagi told them in a carefree tone, "I'm just more use to them because of my family's business with youkai."

The group came to a poor looking village and, true to their word, the crop fields were indeed in terrible shape. Everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at the two strangers, especially the two youkai. Whispers arose as they watched Kohana, Usagi, and Suicine walk over to the crops.

Kohana gasped and quickly scurried down from Usagi's arms and ran over to the wilting crops. She knelt down and placed a hand on the brown dying plants. "They're sick," she said in a sad tone.

Usagi staredat the water that surrounds the crops and her eyes followed the irrigation trail to the source which was a rather large lake. "It's the water," she said, catching Kohana's attention. "Suicine, purify the water," she ordered the large wolf.

Suicine quickly rushed towards the lake and went forward in doing what Usagi had ordered, but when he got started in taking the poison out of the water, a loud grumbling sound was heard as large bubbles appeared on the water's surface. Usagi stood up and held out her hands, creating a bow and arrow in her grasp, making the people wonder if she might be some kind of miko. However the weapon wasn't something simple like the wooden ones Kagome has and uses, but rather a bow made out of silver, similar to the weapon her ancestors had used to purify youkai.

/-/

Back in the lake, a beautiful mermaid was sitting on a rock. Her black hair flowed about her in the water as her dark red dyes stared into a mirror with a look of satisfaction and delight. She's wearing a type of tight corset made of bright colored shells and from the waist down was a teal green fish tail. All in all, she looked a lot like a mermaid in those childish fairy tale stories, except she sported a necklace with a shard hanging around her neck.

"Beautiful," she sighed dreamily as she continued to admire her reflection in the mirror. "There's nobody in the entire world that is more beautiful than me," she said. With each vain statement, the shard made her blind to the waters around her as it grew more and more poisonous, not even bothering to care that the crops above were wilting.

Instead, she thought that the poisonous waters was helping her become more gorgeous, so when she felt the waters around her slowly becoming clean again, she took it as an offense. "Those pesky ningen are trying to take away my beauty," she snarled. Tornadoes started to swirl around as her vain anger increased the with the shard's light blinking. "They're just jealous of the way I look so they're trying to find a way to destroy my waters." She was still situated on the rock as the water gained a life of its own and pushed the rock to the surface.

/-/

The mermaid was lifted into the air and stared at the quivering ningen and the youkai. But then she noticed Usagi standing there with the weapon pointed at her. Oh did she become infuriated with her and no it wasn't because our heroine had a weapon pointed at her, she was furious at the fact that some ningen dared to make her beauty rival hers. "How dare you look as attractive as I?" she screeched, "My beauty is suppose to be supreme and NO ningen will ever be able to match mine."

"Why does this remind me of Snow White and the queen's vain jealousy?" usagi said silently as a sweat dropped on the side of her head. Her blue eyes then caught a glint of the shikon shard on the necklace. "These shards are becoming a nuisance more and more," she sighed.

The mermaid held her hand up straight and moved it to aim at Usagi as a cyclone of water rose up and flew towards Usagi. The target released the arrow; the heat of the arrow caused the water to evaporate, angering the aquatic youkai even more. She glared angrily at Usagi who pulled the string back with another arrow appearing in its place. Her black hair whipped around her in the air as the shard's light turned to pitch black. As she threw another water tempest at Usagi, she released the arrow. This time, the projectile dispersed the water and connected to the shard. The mermaid glared at the arrow and reached over to get rid of it when the arrow dissolved into the shard, pushing all the negative power out. As the shard became clear white again, the youkai held a hand to her head, to get rid of the throbbing headache. Her hold on the water began to loosen, causing the water to fall back into the lake; she blacked out and fell along with the very element she lived in.

Usagi turned to Suicine and said quickly, "Catch her." The large wolf obeyed the blond and leapt into the air, allowing the mermaid to fall onto his back. Suicine landed in front of Usagi, who was staring at the crystal flake lying innocently around the unconscious youkai's neck. She took the shard and sighed in annoyance, "If this goes on, I'll be able to complete the crystal myself."

"She unconscious," one of the men shouted, "Now's our chance." The rest of the men lifted up any form of weapon they got their hands on and stalked over to where Usagi was.

"I thought I told you to get all your facts straight before attacking someone," Usagi said, turning around, "like what happened to Hana-chan's parents." some of the mend managed to look guilty while the others acted like they didn't care. "We humans aren't very innocent a well," she said angrily, "Just as there are good humans, we also have those who are corrupted. The same goes for youkai."

"But youkais kill for no reason at all!" one of the men shouted.

"So do bandits!" Usagi shouted, stomping her foot in their direction. The villagers stared at each other as they realized she was right. "So do lords and kings who start wars and battles for each other's lands. But I don't see you gathering weapons to attack them." Usagi's hand clutched tightly on the shard and held it for them to see. "You want to know the source of the trouble, well here it is."

"But that's just a piece of jewelry," one of them said, trying to justify their actions, "How can a simple thing like that do all this damage?"

"How does a simple object like money influence bandits and lords?" Usagi asked, using her question to answer his.

A low moan attracted everyone's attention as they all stared at the awakening mermaid. "What happened?" she whispered, "The last thing I remembered was finding that nice stone in the water and then..."

Usagi walked over to the mermaid and said gently, "I'm afraid that this stone decided to show your darker side. You became infatuated with your beauty and in turn poisoned the water."

"The water," she repeated and then gasped, "Oh no! What have I done?"

"It's okay," Kohana said, calming her down, "Usagi-san had Suicine make the water clean again."

The mermaid glanced at the wolf she was sitting on and at the young woman beside him. "Arigato," she whispered to Usagi, who just smiled at her.

"You're welcome, but if you don't mind me asking, where did you get this?" Usagi asked, holding the shard for her to see.

"It landed on my lake," the mermaid replied, "Since no one came in to claim it, i kept it myself." Usagi held her hand out to give her the jewel, but the youkai shook her head. "If that was what caused all this, I think it's best if you keep it, seeing as how you're a miko." Her eyes wandered to Suicine and walked as the wolf headed to the waters to let her go back in. "Though, I never heard of a miko that is merciful to youkai or travel with them to begin with."

Usagi helped the mermaid down into the waters and knelt by the shore. "Actually I'm not a miko," Usagi said, wondering just why everyone she had met would either compare her to a tenshi, a youkai, or a miko.

"If you're not a miko, then how were you able to purify my waters and stop the shard from taking control over me?" the mermaid asked. She lifted her hand and tapped her cheek in thought. "Of course, mikos are known to purify youkais by turning them into dust."

"I may not be a miko but my family has been known to have spiritual power," Usagi said, "However what my family is well known for is the dream of connecting the road between the ningen and youkai together."

"I've heard that there is one family that's been trying to do that," Kohana said, "Okaa and Otou said that ever since there has been youkai and ningen, that family has been trying to stop the hostility between the two, but the family had died out about a hundred years ago."

"More like kept hidden," the mermaid added, "If you are part of that family."

"I don't think that the question should be about my family, but rather about Hana-chan's family," Usagi said, looking at the young child. "Since you're an orphan and still young, there's no way that you can survive on your own." She glanced over to the men who had attacked Kohana's family wit the accusation of their flowers poisoning their crops. Usagi sighed, shaking her head, finally understanding her annoyance of ignorant people and the damages they do without even knowing it. "Hana youkais are hard to find because they blend in to the flowers around them and those flowers range from common to rare, so it's hard to figure out if they're there or not."

Kohana stared at Suicine and then at Usagi. "You seem to be very knowledgeable about the different kinds of youkai," she said in a soft voice.

Usagi nodded her head and said, getting on top of the wolf youkai, "Even if I know a lot, there's still much I have yet to learn," Usagi said, "But my parents were well acquainted with several hana youkai and taught all I needed to know." Suicine turned around to face away from the lake as Usagi kept her gaze on the small child. She held out a hand and said with a smile, "You can stay with me until you get older."

Kohana stared at Usagi in shock. "But if you did that, you would be treated badly by the other ningen," she said frantically. She sounded as if she really didn't want Usagi to take her, but deep down she had hoped that Usagi wouldn't care about the way she'd be treated and still offer to look after her.

Everybody just watched as Usagi laughed. "Back at my old village, I may had been scolded for helping and taking care of hanyous and youkais, but nobody had actually went and treated me horribly," she said. Usagi took Kohana's hand and lifted her onto the back of the wolf. "I know the feeling of being left all alone as a child, so there's no way I'm letting the same thing happen to another child," she said, "but the question is do you want to come with me, Hana-chan?"

Kohana stared at Usagi with thoughtful red eyes, not sure of what she should do. A part of her was telling her to not go and cause her more trouble; Usagi had already done so much for her by saving her life. However, an even bigger part of her wanted to go with Usagi and learn all that she can about this woman who shows no fear and so much compassion to the youkai. Maybe she was feeling selfish, but she couldn't help but wish that Usagi is also willing to be her new mother, but the feeling of doubt was large. The redhead brought her hands together and tapped her two pointer fingers lightly against each other in a shy manner.

As if sensing her dilemma, Usagi patted Kohana on the head. "But even if you don't want to stay with me, I'm afraid that it's against my morals to leave a child all alone," she said. What she had said caused Kohana to stared at her in shock and in relief. Usagi grinned and wrapped her arms around Kohana. "Welcome to the family, Hana-chan. I get to play mother again, so it works for me too," she said laughing.

"Again?" the villagers repeated.

"You're not the first I had looked after and I highly doubt you'll be the last," Usagi said, "Since I can't marry anyone who is biased about youkai and hanyou, this gives me the opportunity to be a mother, pretty much."

Kohana stared at Usagi as a dreamy smile grew; she whispered in a tired tone, "I have a mother again." She wrapped her arms around Usagi and said in a more awake voice, "I have a mother again." Usagi laughed and planted a kiss on her forehead. Kohana looked at Usagi and asked, "What can I call you?"

"Anything your heart desires," Usagi replied. She patted her on the head. "You can see me as a mother and even call me 'aneue'," she said, giving her a wink, "Though Yasha-kun thinks of me more of a sister than a mother."

"So…I can call you anything I want, right?" Kohana asked, still looking at Usagi cautiously. She was trying to find a way to not anger this new mother she had received; the last thing she wanted is to make her regret adopting her. In a soft tone, she tested out the name, "Hahaue."

The villagers stared curiously, wondering about what Usagi's reaction would be. Most thought that she would be disgusted while the other group thought nothing of it. What Usagi had done next completely blew everyone off their feet…literally. "KAWAII!" Usagi shouted, squeezing onto Kohana tightly, "She called me 'hahaue'!"

All the adults fell to the floor as the children stared at them, wondering what had just happened. "I guess there's just one person who's this enthusiastic about these creatures," they sighed deeply, getting up. They shook their heads as they watched the new mother and daughter getting ready to leave.

(1) hana youkai is a flower demon. Not sure if they actually have it, but in my story there is one.

AN: Please ignore my poor skill in the battle. I'm not very good with the whole fighting scenes so I'll most likely rush through it. (falling to the floor and sobbing)

Please send your reviews! I'll try to get the new chapter in, hopefully before this year is up.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch11

AN: I am soooo sorry for the long wait. Things had been so hectic for me since I last updated. First my summer job was hectic and all where I'm teaching creative writing and Spanish. And last but not least, the biggest problem of all…I GOT WRITER'S BLOCK!!!! Sadly, not just for this chapter, but for all my other stories as well. T-T

But when I started to get some ideas, school had already started yet again. And now I'm being pounded with reports to write and midterms to take for my classes. I am so horrible for making all of you wait. Hopefully you'll all enjoy this chapter for my repentance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

* * *

InuYasha was sitting high up in the trees overlooking his friends. It had been a week since Usagi left the group with the promise of their paths crossing again in the near future. He knew that she was safe since Suicine is with her, not to mention that she is like a miko and a taijiya combined. He had often spied on her protecting the village from some youkai who tried to attack at night. She's strong and there's nothing wrong, everything's perfectly fine. He closed his eyes and tried to think positive, that the next time he sees Usagi, she would be smiling and welcoming him back with open arms.

"_Aneue, what's going on?" a child-like form of InuYasha asked, walking towards a worried Usagi. He had been sleeping when the sharp sounds of the village alert bell rung and the burning stench of smoke and blood woke him up. Cautiously he walked towards the door to see Usagi standing there in concern._

_Usagi, hearing his voice, turned around. "Yasha-kun, I need you to hurry into the forest right now," she said in a firm tone. She quickly closed the door and rushed over to her younger brother._

_Just as he was about to questions her why, everything began to blur. The last thing he had heard was Usagi shouting, "Look out!" He watched as she shielded him with her body. Shocked and horrified, he felt his heart quicken in a pace no once can match as he watched the body of his beloved sister fall to the floor. "Aneue," he whispered softly, then as he thought his heart had stopped, he shook his head once with tears trialing down a he screamed…_

"Aneue!" Inuyasha jolted awake. His whole body was covered in sweat. He was breathing irregularly as he felt his heart slowly falling back to its normal pace. "Yume?" he whispered, leaning back on the tree. When he opened his golden eyes, his right hand was stretched out, almost as if he wanted to reach out and grab someone.

He reached into his haori and pulled out a small jewel. The crystal still glistened the same way he first got it, signaling that all was well with Usagi. He could sense a strong power coming from the gem, but strangely enough, instead of pulling youkai towards it for its power, it's actually pushing them away. InuYasha couldn't help but smile. Even though he's not with him, his sister was still protecting him. Then he remembered a lullaby Usagi had often sung to him whenever he couldn't sleep or was upset because he was being bullied. Closing his hand around the crystal, he shut his eyes and hummed the gentle melody he had heard coming from a golden star shaped locket.

"InuYasha?" The silver haired hanyou opened his eyes and saw that it was morning and that they had already continued walking. He began to wonder why he didn't notice that he was walking behind them. "InuYasha, what's that song?" he heard Shippo ask. Oh great, now they heard him humming the song.

"None of your business," InuYasha snapped, turning his head.

"InuYasha, there's no need to be rude," Kagome scolded, "He was just asking a question."

"Perhaps it's a rather sensitive subject for him, Kagome-sama," Miroku said. He glanced over to his friend, who was ignoring them. "It might've been a song sang by his mother."

"That could be true," Sango said, nodding her head.

"It was sang by someone close to me, but not my mother," the hanyou stated. His hand began to finger the tiny shard.

"Hey that looks like a shikon shard," Shippo said, pointing at it, "When did you find it?"

"It's not the shards we're looking for," InuYasha said, rolling his eyes.

Kagome closed her eyes and tried to sense the usual presence she had often felt from the shards. "He's right," she said, opening her eyes, "I don't sense its presence."

Miroku eyed the jewel. "But there's a much more powerful aura coming from it," he said silently, "It's also much more pure than the shards Kagome-sama is carrying." He smiled gently at his friend and asked, "Where did you find it?"

"Usagi," was the soft reply.

Miroku stared at the crystal intently. "Usagi-sama is becoming more and more intriguing," he said mentally. The more he learns about her, the more mysteries he has yet to solve.

/-/

Naraku watched as the object of his attention was now resting beside a river bank. "This Usagi surely is an interesting character," he mused, "She's like a miko, but at the same time, she's not. She can be as powerful as a youkai, but she's as frail as the rest of the ningen. Just what exactly is she?"

"She's very powerful," Kanna whispered. She glanced at her mirror and watched as Usagi spotted the flying insect spying on her, but what surprised her was that without doing anything else, the hornet-like creature turned around and rammed itself into a tree, killing itself. "Her soul is big, much larger than Kagome's. She can be a formidable ally or a difficult opponent."

Naraku laughed. "True and it appears that InuYasha is quite attached to her. Imagine the look on his face when he discovers that another precious friend betrays him." And with that, his mind began to scheme.

/-/

Usagi glanced up and watched as her adopted daughter played in the water and at the same time, trying to catch some fish. Thinking back, InuYasha had acted the exact same way Kohana was. Since Suicine would watch the pink-haired child, Usagi decided to focus on her task of making supper for the waning day.

Kohana looked up to see her surrogate mother making dinner and smiled. During the few days that she had stayed with Usagi, it was almost like her parents had never left. While she did miss them terribly from time to time, Usagi had taught her that she can't stay focus on the past forever and that everything ahs its time and purpose. She watched as Usagi continued to cook the stew with some ingredients they found in the forest and some they had brought from villages when something moved at the corner of her eyes. She squint her red eyes slightly to see a brown wolf drinking the water; she widened her eyes as she watched the canine turned around and scurried away. Getting curious, Kohana decided to follow the wolf.

Usagi watched as the pink hair child walked away without telling her and sighed. Her younger brother was the exact same way as a child, whenever something interesting catches his eyes, he'll stop at nothing until his curiosity is satisfied. Glancing at the resting wolf, she petted him on the head, causing him to wake up. Silently, she glanced at the wandering child and he knew that she wanted him to talk after her. While Usagi turned around to the stew, the blue wolf got up and followed after Kohana.

/-/

Kohana followed the wolf cautiously and quickly hid behind a large rock when she saw the animal halt. Thinking that he probably spotted her stalking it, she dropped to her knees and covered her head in a frightened manner, but when nothing happened, she glanced around the boulder to see that the wolf had vanished. Wondering where it went, Kohana followed after its trail behind the waterfall to discover a cave with other brown wolves in it as well. She gasped when she saw the dog-like animals and a great big smile crept on her face.

"What are you doing here, brat?" she heard a rough voice asked. Kohana turned around to see a human shaped youkai standing at the entrance of the cave, blocking the only exit. His bleu yes were paler than her mother's eyes. He had black hair tied into a high ponytail with brown fur wrapped around his clothes with a wolf's tail hanging behind him.

Kouga had been looking for some food when he had allowed his companions to finally rest after five days of running nonstop. He had caught a deer and was dragging it back into the cave when he caught sight of a small child. His nose had informed him that the child was a youkai so he questioned her purpose there.

Kohana's excitement and enjoyment came to a halt when she saw Kouga. Glancing at the corpse of the deer gave the message that it was food and that the wolves were probably hungry. When she stalked after the wolf, she wasn't thinking of becoming food for them. As Kouga took a step toward her, she stumbled back and fell to the floor. She curled into a tight ball and whimpered when he knelt down beside her and reached his hand out to touch her.

A loud growl was heard from the entrance, Kouga looked up to see a blue wolf run towards them with the intention to grab his neck and he would've if Kouga haven't raced out of the way. Kouga was about to attack when he heard Kohana shout, "Suicine," and stopped. He stared in shock and watched as the small girl run over to the wolf, who stood protectively over her.

Kohana then quickly kneeled down in front of Kouga and said,. "Please don't fight. It was my fault. I saw the wolf and just wanted a closer look that's all. Please don't eat me."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, I wasn't going to eat you," Kouga said, "I was just going to get you out of here and bring you back to your folks."

Kohana glanced up cautiously, whispering, "Really?"

Kouga threw the deer to the hungry wolves. "Yeah, 'sides I don't eat kids anyway, too scrawny," he joked.

Of course, being a youkai, she is still a child, so Kohana couldn't really tell if he was joking or not. Her red eyes narrowed at Kouga and she shouted, "You better not try to eat hahaue. Me and Suicine won't let you. If you do, then…then…" Her eyes began to tear up as she started to hiccup. "Then I'll be left alone again," she wailed. Tears began to trail down her cheek, causing Suicine to growl angrily at him for making her cry.

Kouga just laughed and said, "Don't worry. I was just kidding when I said that. I only eat animals anyway." He watched as Kohana stopped crying and stared at him. "What did you mean that you'll be left along again," he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Okaa and otou were killed by some ningen because they thought that it was our fault their crops were dieing. If it wasn't for hahaue, I would've been killed. She helped clear our name to the village and made the water clean again. Even though she was a ningen, she adopted me," Kohana said.

"A ningen woman adopting a youkai? That's weird," Kouga muttered, "What about the wolf?"

"Hahaue helped his mother give birth to him and named him," Kohana said, "I heard that hahaue comes from a family that wants to connect the bridge between youkai and ningen."

Kouga was about to ask another question when his ears heard a loud whistle. He then watched as Kohana climbed on top of Suicine and the wolf began to walk out of the cave. "Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"Back to hahaue," Kohana answered, "Supper's ready. Do you want to come with us?" She ignored the annoyed growl coming from the large wolf.

Kouga knew that Suicine doesn't approve of him being with them, but wanted to meet another ningen woman who is willing to look after a youkai child like his beloved Kagome. "Sure, why not?" he said. He motioned for his pack to stay as he followed after the pair.

They continued to walk when his nose caught the scent of something that smelled delicious. As they began to near the source where the odor was coming from, Kouga's eyes narrowed in slight awe and suspicion. In front of him was a young woman, who certainly has the features of a youkai, minus the pointed ears, but also carry the scent of a ningen heritage mixed with something else. He knew that form the absence of a youkai that she wasn't a hanyou, but he can't make out what the other part is.

Kohana jumped off the wolf and ran over to Usagi. "Hahaue, I brought a friend over," she said.

Usagi glanced up and saw Kouga standing there with a calculating look on his face. Judging by his appearance and comparing it to InuYasha's description of the mangy wolf, she came to the conclusion that they were one and the same. She smiled gently and stood up, ignoring him stiffening his body. "Konbanwa, Kouga-san," she said, bowing.

Kouga's suspicion shot up. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

"I heard about you from Kagome-chan and Yasha-kun," Usagi said, "They told me a lot about you since you're both on the same mission on trying to destroy Naraku."

His shoulders dropped slightly. "You know my woman?" he said, deciding that since Kagome trusts this stranger than she's not so bad.

Usagi arched an eyebrow when she heard his emphasis on the word 'my' and couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I know Kagome-chan. We traveled together for a bit before I left to go by myself," she said, "My name is Usagi." She sat back down and poured some soup into a bowl and handed it to the eager and hungry child. She poured another and handed it out to him. "Would you like some?" she asked.

Deciding that there isn't any harm, Kouga sat down next to her and too the bowl, muttering his thanks. He watched as Kohana and Suicine ate the food quickly, asking for seconds almost immediately. Seeing that nothing's wrong, he poured a spoonful into his mouth and his eyes widened. He was so use to eating raw meat, or rather nothing at all, that the foreign taste of something cooked was like drinking water after crossing a desert. "It's good," he exclaimed, quickly scoffing down the rest.

"Arigato," Usagi said, eating her share of the stew. "So Kouga-san, since you're on the same journey as the others, are you going to add more shards to your collection?"

Kouga dropped his bowl on to the floor, ignoring Kohana's exclamation of him wasting good food. "How do you know I have some shards?" he asked, "Did Kagome tell you? Are you after them as well?"

"No to the last two questions, but for the first one, you could say that I have the same ability as Kagome-chan and could sense the shards." She picked up the fallen bowl and poured more stew into it before handing it back to him.

Kouga stared at her and watched as she smiled at him. "What's wrong with me?" he asked himself silently, taking the bowl. As he ate, he watched as Usagi took the now stuffed child to the stream to wash her hands and face. When he saw Kagome, he had often saw her as someone who was really cute, kind and gentle, not to mention, she can find the Shikon shards, which was an added bonus. He was so sure that was in love with Kagome…wait, 'was', he is in love with her…isn't he? He glanced curiously at Usagi and couldn't help but admit that she is gorgeous, truly beautiful with an exotic look emphasized by her blond hair and blue eyes, something even rare among youkai. As he watched her mothering the laughing child in front of her, he couldn't help but imagine her smiling and taking care of his pups.

Then he felt like somebody had thrown cold water on his face. Wait, somebody did pour water all over him. He glanced around furiously only to find the main suspect was a large blue wolf feigning sleep, the only evidence was his wet fur and the smirk on his face. Kouga glared at the wolf, but knew he couldn't do anything about it, fearing Usagi's hatred, even if it was Suicine's fault. He shook the water off and sat away from the smirking wolf.

As he sat down, Kouga began to think back on why he had just imagined the picture from before when he had never imagined Kagome in that way. Sure he had boasted about her going to be his mate, but he never truly thought of her as future mother of his pups. He had no right to think of Usagi in that way when he promised himself to Kagome.

"You know, I pictured you to be a lot more rowdy from Yasha-kun's description of you, Kouga-san," he heard Usagi say. Hearing the honorific to his name made him feel uneasy. He couldn't help but feel jealous of the fact that that filthy dog had a closer relationship with this angel than him, the leader of the East wolf pack, do.

"You can call me by name, you don't need to put an honorific, Usagi," Kouga said. He got up. "Why don't you spend the night at the cave with me and my pack? I have a feeling that it's going to rain tonight."

"Arigato, Kouga-kun, that's very sweet of you," she said, not knowing that fast beating of the brown ookami youkai's heart. She picked up the sleepy girl into her arms as Kouga picked up her pack. Kouga glanced at the annoyed Suicine with a smirk as Usagi walked on ahead, not knowing of the glaring contest going on between the two wolves.

AN: People in the last chapter had asked about the term 'hahaue' when Kohana called Usagi that. Hahaue is actually another term for mother, or beloved mother, just as Kohaku calls Sango or InuYasha calls Usagi 'aneue' with means beloved sister.


	12. AN

**Author's Note:**

I had just wrote the prologue to my new story, **Himitsu**, under the Naruto category.

Summary: Nine children had just arrived in Konoha and appeared to be very similar to some well known characters, but who are they? And also, why the hell are these children playing matchmaker to some of the boys?

The prologue is a bit confusing since it deals with the birth of a girl named Himitsu and then goes straight to 18 years into the future, but I promise that as you continue to read the next chapters, you'll start to like it.

So far, I've only received one review from the story and I've just posted it up on 12/20/07, so I'm actually hoping to achieve more reviews, at least ten, before I post up the next chapter. If you have any questions, then please don't hesitate to ask me. Just send me a message to my email or I'll reply to your review.

And I'm really sorry about not posting up the next chapter to this story. Since right now I'm on break from school, hopefully, I can update the next chapter. To be honest, I was feeling a bit dejected about the number of reviews my recent chapters have been receiving, comparing to the first chapter. I was thinking that everyone was starting to lose interest in them. But as I read over the reviews I've been getting, I couldn't help but feel happy that there are people that likes my stories enough to continue reading since day one.

Thank you for your cooperation and happy holidays to you all.


	13. Chapter 12

Ch12

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

As Kouga led the surrogate mother and daughter, along with that annoying wolf (now don't get the wrong idea, dear readers, Kouga loves wolves because if he doesn't then he'll be hating his own kind, it's just that that blue wolf seems to enjoy infuriating him), he couldn't help, but look back every few seconds and steal glances at the adult female. He had never seen anyone like Usagi before and couldn't help but felt that there's much more to her then she lets on. But instead of the distrusts he would usually fell about these suspicions, he couldn't help but feel that mysteriousness being what brings his interest on her.

"Is there something you wish to ask me?" Usagi asked, "You've been watching me since we started walking."

Kouga's face turned bright red. He had though he was being discreet and felt embarrassed to be caught from his spying. He ignored the snort coming from Suicine as he quickly turned his head forward. "I was just wondering about something," Kouga said, pretending that nothing was wrong, "Like what exactly is your relationship with the mutt? You must be pretty close to call him 'Yasha-kun' and not get killed unless…" He stopped abruptly as his eyes widened."

"Unless what?" Usagi asked.

"That filthy mutt is two-timing Kagome," Kouga shouted. It completely slipped his mind that he had called the reincarnated miko by her name rather than with the usual possessive pronoun.

"Yasha-kun and I don't have that type of relationship," Usagi said, smiling.

"I'm gonna tear him apart, limb from…what?" Kouga said, turning around, not really hearing what she had just said.

"Yasha-kun and I don't have that type of relationship," Usagi repeated, "We are close, yes, but not in that sense where're I'm going to be his mate. That place is already reserved for Kagome-chan."

"Oh?" Kouga couldn't help but feel a strange sense of relief coming over him. When he realized what he just conspired within him, he quickly turned back around and hurried to the cave.

Usagi entered the cave behind the waterfall and saw several brown wolves lying around, enjoying their rare break from running for once on a full stomach. "The survivors from Kagura's annihilation of the group," Usagi said softly. Kouga turned to her with a questioned look on his face. "Yasha-kun told me how she manipulated you into thinking he killed your clan and that's the reason why you're targeting Naraku."

"Wow, that mutt sure told you a lot," Kouga said, sitting down. He watched as she placed the child on top of Suicine to pull out a pallet and replacing Kohana on it. "That guy is usually so secretive about himself. I had to be there just to witness him turn into a ningen to find out the time."

"The night of a full moon," Usagi said.

Louga's eyes stared in shock at the fact that this girl knew one of the secrets InuYasha would rather die than admit. He was about to question her when two voices were heard, shouting, "Kouga!" The group turned to the entrance to see two ookami youkai walking exhaustedly towards them.

"Ginta, Hakkaku, what took you guys so long?" Kouga asked.

"Why did you have to run so fast for? This was our first break so why can't you just slow down for once?" Ginta asked.

"Hey, what are these guys?" Hakkaku asked, pointing to the extension of the pack.

"They're friends of Kagome and the mutt," the leader replied, "This is Usagi, Kohana, and that furball over there is Suicine."

"Friends of Kagome-neechan?" Ginta asked. "Is she a ningen or a youkai?"

Loud clash of thunder was heard as heavy rain fell abruptly in the area. Usagi watched as Suicine cuddled close to Kohana to keep her warm with a smile. "It seems like you were right about the rain, Kouga," usagi said. She stood up and walked over to the entrance of the cave. "I hope yasha-kun and the others are able to find shelter," she said.

"You call InuYasha 'Yasha-kun'?" Hakkaku asked with Ginta adding, "And managed to still be alive?"

Usagi laughed and said. "That's nothing. I once called him fluffy when he came back home after getting caught in the rain and he just brushed it aside." Kouga smirked as he watched admiration grow on his two subordinate's faces. "I am probably the only one he'll ever allow to do any embarrassing thing to him and get away with it," she said, hurrying over to sit with her new friends. Kouga's ears perked up as the idea of blackmail popped up in his head. "Once I was making a girl kimono and had him wear it as a model. He made such a pretty girl."

Ginta and Hakkaku felt their jaws dropped open when they heard that, no doubt Kouga would probably try to use that against the hanyou. Curiously, they glanced over to Kouga and sighed, "Knew it," when they saw an evil smirk and glint in the eyes of a person thinking of a plan to torture someone.

/-/

"AACHOO!" Everyone turned over to InuYasha, who was rubbing his nose and sniffling. "That's weird," he muttered.

"You're not getting sick, are you?" Sango asked. She leaned slightly forward and looked at the hanyou worriedly.

"It's no problem if he is since Kagome-sama has a lot of medicine with her," Miroku said. His brown eyes gleamed as his hand slowly inched towards his favorite part of a woman's body, only to get hit on the head with the large boomerang.

Sango glared at him as she shouted, "Can't you think of anything else to do besides molesting me!"

"Molest you? Why, I'm doing nothing of that sort," the monk said. He smiled almost in an intelligent manner as he continued, "I was merely appreciating the beauty of a woman's body."

"Appreciating, my ass," InuYasha said, shaking his head.

"Sorry, but I only appreciate a woman's body, not a man's, InuYasha," Miroku said. He then glanced up and down curiously. "Unless you're really a girl in disguise, then I don't mind," he said, rubbing his hands together.

InuYasha froze for a second before jumping up into one of the trees surrounding the roadsides. "What the fuck is your problem?" he shouted, "I'm a guy and I don't like it when a guy comes on to me!" Everybody just started to laugh, completely ignoring InuYasha's mutter of how he hates it when people would compare him to a girl, thinking of a time when he was a child.

_(Flashback)_

"_Aneue!" InuYasha shouted, running into the modest but large home of his sister. In his arms were fruit picked from the forest. He entered the house to see Usagi, only sixteen and still oddly unmarried, sitting by a porch that overlooks the waters. In her hands were a pale red girlish kimono and a sewing needle. "Aneue, I brought some fruits for you," he said._

_Usagi looked up from her work and smiled gently at him. "Arigato, Yasha-kun," she said, "I hope you didn't run into any trouble."_

_InuYasha shook his head with a bright smile on his face. "Nope!" he replied happily. He gently dropped the fruits next to his sister and sat down on the porch, swinging his feet over the ledge. "That's a really pretty kimono, aneue, who's it for?" he asked._

"_For the lord's daughter," Usagi replied, "She's turning five this week so I'm making this for her." She spread out the cloth as she asked, "Do you like it?" InuYasha nodded his head excitedly, to him anything his sister made was beautiful. Usagi placed a hand on her cheek as she sighed. "Too bad all of the children are busy today. I really wanted one of the girls to model in it for me." She glanced over to InuYasha as an idea popped in her head. "Yasha-kun, can you put this on for just a second? I want to see how it'll look."_

"_But that's a girl's kimono," the small child whined. Usagi just looked at him, wondering his point. InuYasha pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm a boy!" he stressed out._

"_It's just for a second, Yasha-kun," Usagi tried to reason with him._

"_NO!"_

"_I'll teach you how to fight."_

_As tempting as it sound, the hanyou only shouted, "NO!"_

"_I'll make you toys to play with."_

"_NO!"_

"_I'll teach you how to hunt."_

"_NO!"_

"_I'll make you your favorite foods for a week."_

"_N…for a week?" InuYasha asked. Usagi nodded, causing him to ask, "Anything I want?" She nodded again with a smile. The small child looked down in consideration before looking up and nodded excitedly, completely forgetting that he would be dressed like a girl, only thinking about all the delicious treats he would get for a week._

_Usagi giggled and held up the kimono. "Great, now take off your clothes and put this on," she said. She noticed that the dog ears on top of his head all of a sudden droop down in realization of the humiliation he would face, but the thought of his favorite foods caused him to stubbornly comply to the agreement._

_(A few minutes later)_

_Usagi squealed at the hanyou garbed in the pale scarlet kimono. "Kawaii!" she said, hugging her brother tightly. "Why couldn't you been born as a girl?" she asked, snuggling to the annoyed hanyou. She pulled away with a dreamy look in her eyes. "It's almost as if your body was built for a girl rather than a boy," she said, sighing._

"_Aneue," InuYasha complained as he struggled against her embrace, "I'm a boy! Not a girl!"_

"_Well, one can dream, can't she?" Usagi asked, laughing, "Now come, I believe that there are some dumplings with your name on them waiting in the kitchen." The minute he heard about the food, he jumped up and ran for the cooking area, completely forgetting to change out of the outfit. Usagi giggled and said, "He's just like a dog. Now I know what to do when I want to dress him up, award him with food."_

_(End flashback)_

And that was the first time he was dressed as a girl, but it definitely wasn't the last. No matter how many times he made a vow to not fall for Usagi's plea of dressing him up, his resolve always disappear the minute she mentions food. Damn it, she got him completely trained like a dog. InuYasha crossed his arms over his chest as he pouted. But no matter how embarrassing the things she did to him might be, she was always there for him.

When his mother died and left him all alone in a world hostile to hanyou, Usagi was the one that took him in, caring for him like a son or the younger brother he was to her. She completely disregarded her dream of being married and having a family of her own, just so she could look after him. He could never deny her of anything since he had no right to in the first place, after all, he was the reason why her dream died out and not just her dream, but her as well.


	14. Chapter 13

Ch13

Ch13

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

AN: I made a mistake in the last chapter. The time of InuYasha's turning into a human is not a full moon but a new moon. Sorry for the confusion.

* * *

InuYasha and his friends were walking by a village when a group of children playing near by spotted him. "It's InuYasha-san!" they shouted. The small group stopped and stared in shock, as some of the children ran to get some adults while the rest of the them wandered even closer to study him. "Yup, it's him all right," they declared.

"InuYasha, do you know these kids?" Sango asked, "Maybe this is the village where Usagi-san is from."

"It's not," InuYasha said out loud while replying internally, "That village was destroyed when aneue died."

Just then several adult males surrounding a priest came forward. "A male hanyou, part inu and part ningen, with silver hair and gold eyes," the priest said, like he was reading off a list. "You are InuYasha, correct?

"Who wants to know?" the silver-haired hanyou replied.

"A village that was rescued by a tenshi," the priest answered, "Her name was Usagi-san."

"Usagi was here?" InuYasha shouted, suddenly with interest, "How is she? Is she well? Did she get hurt? Is Suicine still with her?"

"She is doing well, along with the ookami and the child," the priest replied.

"Child?" the young group said in unison.

One of the adults nodded his head. "Usagi-sama had a small youkai child with her. From what we heard, she took in the orphan."

"Aneue adopted a kid," InuYasha said silently, somewhat shocked at the discovery.

A little girl pulled on InuYasha's sleeve and proceeded towards the village. "Tenshi-sama left us a present to give to you," she said with a smile on her face.

A boy slightly older than her pulled on his other hand and dragged him in the same direction. "She says that you're very strong? Are you really?" he asked.

"Nobodies stronger than onee-sama," another boy shouted running ahead of them, "She's like a miko and a warrior combined."

"More like a tenshi and a megumi," a girl argued.

"So Usagi took in a youkai as a daughter?" InuYasha said, letting the children herd him like a lost sheep.

"Yup, her name's Kohana," the children said, "She helped our crops grow faster and better."

InuYasha was seated in the middle of the village right in front of a small modest temple. "This is what Usagi-san asked us to give to you?" the priest said, handing a rolled up scroll and a small brown leather bag. "I don't know how, but she seemed to know that you were heading in this direction and asked us to hand these over."

InuYasha opened up the bag and pulled out s piece of rolled up paper stating all was well and about Suicine and Kohana. She also wrote how she met Kouga and his pack, much to his dismay, and how nice they were to her. He reached into the bag pulled out some onigiri wrapped in bamboo leaves. A small smile blossomed on his face as he remembered the last line of the letter she had written of how she remembers that he hates spicy food and would prefer to eat things that were salty or sweet, preferably salty, hence the reason why he loves the cup ramen Kagome brings back after every trip back home. He then looked at the larger scroll and hesitated to open it when he had a feeling that it was something that he's not going to like.

Getting tired of waiting, Shippo grabbed the scroll and ran to the other side of the road. "What are you waiting for, InuYasha? It's just a scroll." He opened it and peeked at its contents. His green eyes widened as a blush grew on his face and his mouth dropped open.

"What is it, Shippo-chan?" Kagome asked, taking the scroll from the shocked fox. She looked at it and squealed, "Kaiwaii!"

Sango and Miroku glanced over her shoulders and also stared in awe. Shippo jumped onto Miroku's head and asked the hanyou, "Who is that little girl?"

"What girl?" InuYasha shouted. He grabbed the scroll and stared at the drawing of a little girl with long black hair wearing a pink yutaka. "Why the hell did she draw this out for?" He saw something scribbled on the bottom and read it out loud, "Kouga wanted to see what you looked like during that festival so I drew him a picture." He stared at it, lost for a second before screaming, 'What the FUCK! If he wanted her for a mate, would she agree to it? What did she have to draw me that in that freaking outfit for?"

"Wait, this girl is you?" Kagome asked. She stared down at Shippo who had fallen off of the monk's head, laughing himself to death.

Miroku stared at his embarrassed friend. "So you really are a girl in disguise," he teased.

"Girl in disguise, my ass ("Sure if you're really a girl," Miroku said, getting a smack on the head, courtesy of Sango.)," InuYasha shouted, "I'm 100 percent male who was disguised as a girl for her amusement!"

"When did this happen?' Sango asked.

"All I wanted to do was to go to a festival and the only time I can go without being chased out was on a night of a new moon. And on that day, it was a festival for females, but Usagi tricked me and got me there disguised as a little girl."

While the others were laughing, Miroku couldn't help but notice that the portrait was of a very young InuYasha, so this must've happened in his childhood, but he had mentioned Usagi being in the memory. Miroku couldn't help but wonder if this strange savior is a ningen as she claimed to be or a youkai as he suspected.

/-/

Kouga heard giggling and turned to see Usagi trying to hide her laughter. He had offered to escort her to a nearby village, even though she told him that he didn't have to. He argued saying that if anything happened to her, Kagome would be upset, when in reality, he just wanted to spend more time with her. He looked smugly at Suicine when she finally agreed. "Usagi, is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Something tells me that Yasha-kun saw the drawing I gave to him," Usagi said in a playful tone. Kohana, who was riding on Suicine, giggled along side her surrogate mother.

Kouga thought back to the drawing of a young InuYasha and burst out laughing, just as he did when he first saw it. "I can't believe that mutt actually looks good as a girl," he said.

"I can't believe that you did all that to him and still survived," Ginta muttered.

Kouga just continued to laugh when he stopped all of a sudden. His eyes narrowed as he glanced around carefully. Usagi looked at him curiously, she knew the reason why he stopped, but she wanted to see whether or not he knows the reason as well. There was a familiar stench that clung in the air, heading off in a direction. A smirk grew on Kouga's face. "Naraku," he said. He quickly hurried off into the direction with his pack staring at him in disbelief. "You guys take Usagi to a nearby village and catch up with me later," he said, disappearing into the distance.

"You want us to do what?!" Hakkaku shouted, "There's no way we could catch up to you like this!"

Usagi shook her head. "You guys go ahead. I'll be just fine with Suicine," she said. The wolves all looked at her and were pondering on whether or not they should do with their leader said or disobey. Usagi placed her hands on her hips as she pointed in the same direction Kouga ran off to. "Go, I'll be just fine," she said. She glared at them like a scolding mother, causing them to jump tail and follow the vanishing youkai.

Usagi sighed as she glanced at her two companions. "Honestly, why does everyone take one look at me and immediately assume that I need protection?" she asked, causing Kohana to laugh and Suicine to shake his head.

* * *

AN: Some people had stated in the last chapter that they would never see InuYasha as a girl, but in some fanfics I've read, they do change him into one. I just reminds me of the Naruto stories where Naruto is female rather than a male.


	15. Chapter 14

Ch14

Ch14

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

AN: For those who wish to see what InuYasha looked like in the drawing, go to this link: watersprite11224./art/Chibi-InuYasha-from-Aneue-89106577

* * *

Ungai and his followers of monks were walking through the forest paths. "I don't understand," he thought to himself, "Why would they want to stay with youkai even knowing the dangers and horrors surrounding them?" He thought back to that little girl who followed after that fearsome demon lord with such blind loyalty and that group mixed with ningen and youkai. He shook his head, he understood that the girl could've been enchanted but that group of ningen was made of experts and those of spiritual powers.

"Ungai-sama, look," one of the young monks shouted, pointing ahead where evidence of black smoke was rising to the skies.

"Let's go," he commanded.

The group of monks hurried down the path and ended at the top of a small hill, looking down on a group of bandits terrorizing a village, which was not much of an unusual sight. But what was strange was that a large ookami youkai seems to be protecting the villagers from harm. They watched in amazement and in horror as the youkai fired darts of ice from its mouth into the bodies of the bandits. After all of the bodies fell to the ground motionless, the blue wolf turned to the burning houses and fields and quickly put the fire out. It wasn't until the wolf turned its attention on the villagers did the monks take action. With a single jump, they surrounded the wolf, with the intention to protect the villagers.

"Wait, what are you doing, Houshi-sama?" the villagers cried out.

"Vanquishing the youkai before it does anymore harm," Ungai said.

"Stop it! He's protecting us!" a child screamed. He ran over and was joined by a group of other children. They all began to pull at the monks' robes, but was immediately pulled away by their parents, scared of the monks' reactions.

"Most likely to finish the job these bandits had started," Ungai said, "Stay away and let us do our job."

"Hahaue always say that it's wrong to judge all youkai as if their presence is just to hurt ningen, just as it's wrong to judge a child based on their parent's actions," a voice echoed throughout the village. Everybody looked around trying to kind the source. It was then in the middle of the circle, near the wolf, vines broke from the ground and formed a cocoon-like structure. The vines then vanished back into the ground, leaving Kohana stand there, staring, or rather glaring, at Ungai.

"Hana-chan!" the children all cried, waving their hands in the air.

Ungai took notice of the pointed ears. Unlike most youkai, this child doesn't release any sign of youki, but it was clear what she really is. "Youkai, it is foolish of you to reveal yourself," he said, "Prepare to be vanquished!"

"You leave Hana-chan alone," the same child that attacked them shouted. "She didn't do anything to you so you have no right!"

Ungai looked at the villagers and could see disapproving faces, not like the grateful and relived faces he's use to. He ignored the displeased group and turned to his task in hand. "Once we vanquish the youkai, perhaps your minds will become clear again," he said, lifting his staff up. Just as he was bout to lower his it down on the growling wolf, who was trying to protect the glaring child, the ground shook with a deafening cry echoing in the air. "Nani?" he shouted, looking around.

"More blood! More death!" the cry echoed. The trees in the forest shook as the shrill voice continued calling for bloodshed. The noise in the trees got louder as the stomps got closer. "Give me your blood!" a large bulky creature with pale pink skin shouted as he stomped towards the village. Flabs of fat and skin were everywhere with only a brown furred fabric tied around his waist. His only large yellow eye was situated in the middle of his forehead as it rolled from side to side. His large mouth openly grinned, showing off his sharp red teeth, no doubt red from the blood of his preys. He looked from the frightened villagers to the dead bandits. "I was hoping for the bandits to do the job for me, but as they always say, the best tasting meals are those you yourself make."

Ungai stared at the youkai and was about to signal his followers to attack when he heard the screams of the villagers. "Tenshi-sama!" "Miko-sama!" "Save us!" "Onee-sama!" The cries were all different, but their tone was the same, fear filled with hope. His brown eyes narrowed as he wondered who they could be referring to.

A breeze flew by all around them as it gradually began to pick up speed. Ungai looked around and spotted an arrow made up of fire heading towards the ogre, once it made contact, it created a hole through its stomach. The ogre bent down a bit as he eye stared at the hole before glaring the monks, blaming them for his injury. "Houshi-teme," he growled.

Ungai and his monks got into a ready stance when the wind around them blew even harder. The villagers started to shout with joy as they stared at something behind the monks. They turned their heads to see a beautiful young maiden with long blond hair running in full speed. If they had actually looked hard enough, with the sun's rays, it would look as if she has wings on her back. In her right hand was a curved silver sword with a golden handle. "Stay back, this youkai is dangerous," Ungai warned her.

Usagi paid no mind to his words. All she could think about was eliminating the threat that was going to hurt the village she's come to care about. Running past them, she waved towards Suicine, who quickly rushed to his, strangely enough, mother-like figure's aid. The monks watched in shock as Usagi lifted herself on top of the wolf and was brought into the air, similar to the way how Sango rides Kirara into battle. The villagers cheered happily as they watched Usagi hold up her sword and swung it down diagonally. At first everyone was confused and wondered why she did that when she was still at a far distance from the youkai and then a painful cry erupted into the air. Everyone turned to see that the top half of the ogre became separated from his bottom half with a diagonal slash before it disappeared into ashes.

Usagi sighed in relief. "Good thing I came back in time," she muttered to herself. Suicine landed back on the ground as the villagers cheered once again. Usagi turned to the villagers with a relieved smile. "I hope nobody was hurt while I was gone," she said.

One of the children shook her head. "Suicine protected us from the bandits, onee-sama," she said.

"Hahaue!" Kohana shouted, running through the crowds. Her red eyes glistened with pride and happiness. She leapt up for Usagi to catch her into her arms. "I knew you'll come to protect us," she said.

"Why would you associate yourself with youkai?" Ungai asked, pushing himself through the villagers. He stared at Usagi, knowing full well that she's a human and that child in her arms is not hers. "They will turn on you the minute they realize you have less power than they do." He shook his head in a confused manner. "I don't understand why. It's like that group from before. A taijiya, a houshi and a miko associating with youkai, it's just unheard of."

Usagi's eyes widened. "A taijiya, a houshi, and a miko?" she repeated. The old and revered monk nodded his head with a frown on his face and a sigh exiting his lips. "Were the youkai with them by any chance be a hanyou, a kitsune youkai, and a nekomata(1)?" Everybody watched as a smile grew on her face after Ungai nodded his head. "You don't have to worry about them. Those youkai are just part of the half population of youkai."

"And the other half?" one of the monk followers asked.

"Youkai who don't care who they hurt as long as they get what they want," Usagi replied. She turned to wave at the villagers who were heading back to their homes.

"Aren't all youkai like that?" another follower asked.

Kohana looked offended as she pouted. "Why do all ningen seem to think that?" she scolded. She turned her head and slowly began to walk to a group of children who wanted to play with her. "It's because of you ningen who think that, my parents were killed for a crime they didn't commit. But did those people care…nooooo…" She crossed her arms over her chest.

Ungai watched suspiciously as Usagi just laughed and planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead before sending her away. "Ojo-san(2), who are you to befriend youkai with no hesitation?" he asked.

"I'm just known as Usagi," was the simple reply given to them.

"Haven't your family ever tell you to be wary of youkai?" a monk asked, stepping forward. He quickly took a step back when Suicine growled at him for his question.

Usagi laughed and shook her head. "Oh no, actually they pretty much encouraged it," she said. She went on kneeling to the ground as she wrapped her arms around the wolf's neck. "My family going back to my ancestors had dreamt of a world where ningen and youkai can meet without fighting. Some of my ancestors had even bore children of youkai as a sign of love for them." She sighed sadly as she leaned her head on the whining canine. "But that was long ago, now I'm the only one left.

The monks just stared at Usagi in complete shock. A family that actually believe and encouraged the idea that youkai and ningen can live together in harmony? It was completely unheard of. Ungai just stared at Usagi and thought that her unusual color could be the cause that she was a youkai, but what troubled him was the fact that she bore no other features that shows the other side of her possible heritage.

Suicine rubbed his head against Usagi's cheek before stalking over to the fields. Usagi turned to see where he was going when she remembered. "Oh, that's right, you were about to inspect the fields when I felt that negative energy and the bandits attacked," she said. She turned to see her daughter playing something similar to cops and robber, or more appropriate for the feudal period, samurai and bandit. "Kohana, the fields," she called.

Kohana glanced up and paused in her running, causing the boy pretending to be a samurai to catch her. Pouting, Kohana glared at the boy who cheated, in her opinion. When she heard Usagi call out her name again, Kohana stalked over to the waiting wolf. "No fait, he cheated," she muttered, "Tagging me when hahaue called me."

"What are they doing?" Ungai asked. He couldn't help but be curious to what the two youkai were doing to the small fields of crops. He watched as Kohana carefully inspected the green plants before tenderly caressing the ground as her hands glowed a light green color. Suicine then waited until the pink-haired child was done and watered the crops, making sure that the soil was moist. "They're caring for the fields?" he asked, looking all bewildered.

"Just a small way to say thank you for allowing us to stay the night," Usagi said. She stretched her arms up into the air before standing up. "Kohana is a hana youkai so she's able to make the crops healthy and Suicine is a mizu ookami and is able to purify the waters along with creating water."

"You're such a strange person," Ungai sighed, "Strange but unique."

Usagi just laughed as she brought a hand to her lips. "Believe me, you're not the first to say that," she softly. Her blue eyes sparkling with kindness and confidence. "You're not the first and you won't be the last."

/-/

InuYasha and his friends had managed to defeat another one of Naraku's creations with no shard as their reward. "Damn it, Naraku," the hanyou muttered, "He's just toying with us, that bastard." He bit down on his left thumb hard, but not hard enough for it to bleed. His nose twitched when he caught a scent, familiar but despised. "It's that mangy wolf," he growled.

Kagome stood up from the large boulder she was resting on to see a small tornado coming towards the. Despite the close friendship she feels towards the wolf prince, she doesn't have any romantic feeling for him like he does for her. She took a deep breath and sighed, bracing herself to Kouga's constant flirting. Instead, she was quite surprised when the tornado went right by her and stopped in front of InuYasha.

Not realizing he had just bypassed Kagome, to Shippo and the other's shock, Kouga stopped and stared at the hanyou in front of him. "Why, hello, Yasha-kun," he teased with a smirk on his face.

InuYasha growled as he flexed his claws. "Don't…call…me…THAT!" he shouted, pouncing on the wolf, who quickly evaded his attack with the help of his shards.

Kouga just grinned as he thought to himself, "I was right, this is fun to get to get on his nerves." He landed back on the ground. "Sorry, do you prefer if I call you 'Yash-chan' instead?" he said, laughing, "You look really cute as a little girl. Perhaps you really are a girl in disguise under all those clothes."

"Shut up!" InuYasha shouted, "You had no right meeting her!" He got even angrier when he smelled a faint scent of flowers, the same flowery scent his sister has. It was bad enough that his friends found out about her, but now his rival did too. Usagi, aneue…she was supposed to be all his, just like it once was after his mother's death.

Possessive feelings grew within Kouga when he heard what the hanyou said. No right? Just who does that haughty half breed think he is, telling him, the prince of the eastern wolves, what he can or cannot do? "And why do you say that, mutt? You've already got Kagome in your sights along with that dead miko," Kouga said, glaring at him, "Don't tell me that you're feasting your infidel eyes on Usagi as well!"

"Kouga-kun, you met Usagi-san?" Kagome asked, hoping to break up any impending fights between the two, "How is she doing?"

Kouga's face turned light pink as he remembered the strange human. "Yeah, I met her," he whispered, "She's a strange one, looking like a human, but her scent is something else." He had a slight goofy smile on his face that reminded Kagome of her brother when he talked about a girl he liked. "Her scent tells me that she's not quite human as she claims to be, but she's not a youkai, that's for sure."

"She's not dangerous, is she?" Miroku asked. Now with that puzzle piece, it does make sense how she can be in InuYasha's childhood and still be alive and look young. However, it just draws more questions to what is she and why she's here.

"She's not dangerous," InuYasha said. He leaned against a large tree with his hand wrapped tightly around the shard. "The only time I saw her act as a danger to others is if her love ones are threatened." He smirked with his fangs showing. "And once that happens, I pity those idiots. Usagi is…was the village's best defense," he said as he tone became more depressed, "Until…"

"Until?" everybody asked at the exact same time; all leaning forward to hear what he'll say.

InuYasha's head snapped up like he had just woken up from a dream. "Nothing," he muttered, right before leaping up into a tree.

Shippo watched as his bully and tormentor decided to seek shelter in the barren tree. "Hey, InuYasha, what are you doing?" he asked, being his usual curious self. He heard only mumbles, but caught the word 'wolf' coming from the hanyou. "Are you hiding in the tree cause you're scared of Kouga?" He laughed, falling to the floor, slamming his fists down. "Haha, InuYasha's a scaredy-cat!"

InuYasha tried to ignore the taunting, knowing full well that he's gonna get sat if he does beat the spoiled brat. As the laughing continued on, InuYasha reached behind and broke off one of the many long branches and threw it down. "You never learn, do you gaki?" he yelled, reaching for another branch.

"AH!" Shippo shouted. He quickly jumped out of the way and buried himself into Kagome's arms. "Kagome, InuYasha's being mean to me!" he bawled.

Kagome glared at the hanyou, who was lifting the branch up in the air, as if daring him to throw it. "InuYasha, stop bulling Shippo," she scolded. InuYasha just scoffed as he tossed the branch aside.

"But InuYasha does have a point," Sango said, stopping her younger friend from punishing the hanyou. "Usagi-san was correct when she said that Shippo was just inviting InuYasha to hit him a lot of times." She knelt down at Shippo's level as she continued, "By constantly teasing him and bothering him, you're just giving InuYasha a reason to hit you, Shippo."

Miroku looked in awe at Sango as he clapped his hands. "Beautifully said, Sango," he said. He walked over to one of the many girls he proposed. "You will make an excellent mother in the future," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

Sango's face flushed with embarrassment at his praise. "Houshi-sama," she whispered. Everyone sighed in defeat the minute they saw her eyes harden and her lifting a trembling fist. They turned around as they heard her scream, "Keep those hands to your self, ero-houshi!"

Kagome just shook her head and ignored the usual act between taijiya and the houshi. She glanced over at the ookami youkai and noticed that not once had he flirted with her since he arrived. She observed the faraway look on his face. "Hmmm…I wonder," she thought to herself. She was about to call out to him when they heard somebody else do it instead.

"Kouga!" the two companions of the prince shouted as they finally managed to catch up.

"You two are late as usual," Kouga said. He placed his hands on his hips as he watched his companions fall to the ground taking deep breaths. "So, did she make it to a village safely?" he asked.d

Ginta nodded his head. "All three made it there and are planning to stay the night," he said.

"Good," Kouga whispered. He held a gentle smile on his face as he thought about the woman who captured his attention, not even Kagome had done.

A knowing smile grew on Kagome's face. After seeing many people make that kind of face while talking about the one they like, it's plainly obvious about how Kouga feels about her and how he feels about Usagi. She only hoped that Usagi might feel the same way of the poor wolf would be broken hearted.

(1) Nekomata is a two-tailed demon cat in Asian culture. As a cat matures, its tail splits into two, making it a demon, mainly the reason why majority of Asian cats don't have tails since their owners would cut them off a long time ago.

(2) Ojo-san means young lady.


	16. Chapter 15

Ch15

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

AN:Please assist me for those who haven't read the note I posted or the recent chapter of The Return of Tenshi, please vote either in the reviews of Sailor MoonFruits Basket crossover coming up or in the polls.

* * *

In a small run down temple hidden in the woods, a bunch of patched up injured soldiers thanked a miko for her services. The long raven haired miko just smiled and bid them farewell as they left. However, not too long after they left, they came back scurrying in fear for the miko's help once more.

"Kikyo-sama, help us!" one of the samurai pleaded.

The amber eyed priestess stood up and looked at them in confusion. "Is something the matter?" she asked. She looked around her surroundings, trying sense what could've startled the soldiers. Sure she sensed several youkai, but this is a forest so it's normal for youkai to be around.

"Youkai!" one of the warriors cried. He pointed towards the road. "There is a large youkai! An ookami!"

Kikyo narrowed her eyes as she whispered, "Ookami?" She grabbed her bow and arrows. "Stay here," she ordered. She hurried down the road while the samurai waited shivering in fear of the large wolf. As she hurried down the path, she saw what had frightened the samurai, lying across the path was a large blue white wolf that appeared to be sleeping. Even if it wasn't doing anything, if she doesn't get rid, what are the chances of it attacking the minute it wakes up. Reaching behind, she grabbed an arrow and pulled the string of the bow back.

The sound of the string being pulled back made the wolf's ear twitched. Suicine lifted his head and stared at Kikyo. The miko froze as she stared at the brown eyes observing her; she kept her fingers on the pulled back string as she felt her reflexes tightening and getting ready. Suicine looked away and glanced at the trees in front of him; after a few minutes of staring at the trees, he stood up on all four legs slowly. Kikyo straightened her back and pulled the string farther back. Instead of attacking her as she had expected, Suicine just paid closer attention to the trees in front of him. It wasn't until she noticed the leaves began ruffling, but not because of the wind; her eyes narrowed as she stared at the trees before firing into the leaves.

"What?" she gasped as she watched Suicine leapt into the air and caught the arrow in its mouth. The wolf's actions did surprise her, but what shocked her even more was the fact the wolf remains standing and still very much alive with the arrow still in its mouth.

The leaves rustled once more before Kohana jumped down from the branches with a basket full of food she found in the trees and the ground. "Sorry for the wait, Suicine," she cheered, lifting up the basket for the wolf to see. "We better get going before hahaue becomes worried," she said, smiling with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and stared at the arrow in the canine's mouth. "Ore? Suicine, where did that arrow come from?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Suicine just whined as he glanced over to Kikyo. Kohana followed his gaze and stared at the miko. She pouted and pointed at the miko. "You tried to kill Suicine!" she accused.

Kikyo studied the child's pink hair that was tied up resembling rabbit ears, only they resided right next to each other on the back of her head with the rest of the hair cascading down, her narrowed red eyes glaring at her in anger, to her pointed ears that signified her youkai heritage. Not sensing the two as a threat, Kikyo lowered her bow and turned around to head back to the shrine, but she hesitated when she heard a sound in the air.

"Ah!" Kohana said, staring at the sky. She glanced over at Suicine and smiled. "We better get going or hahue's gonna get worried." She readjusted the basket in her arms and walked through the forests, humming the word dinner over and over again.

Kikyo, with her back still on the leaving duo, turned her head and watched them disappear into the woods. She lifted her hand up as one of her flying snake-like youkai landed gently on her hand. Her black eyes stared at where the child and wolf left as youkai followed along after them, watching every step and move they made.

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Kohana ran straight out into a small clearing by a brook, where her mother was roasting a few fishes by the fire. She held out the basket in front of her, shouting, "Hahaue, I got some fruits and vegetables!" She placed the basket down by the brook and asked, "Do we have to wash them?"

"If you don't want to taste dirt on them, then I suggest that you do," the blond told them. She went on to turn the stick so one side of the fish doesn't burn. Usagi watched as Suicine walk over to her and was surprise to see an arrow being clutched in his jaw. "Where did that arrow come from?" she asked, taking the weapon and inspecting it.

Splashing a long daikon(1) in the water, Kohana replied, "A miko." She dragged the thick white carrot-like vegetable in the brook as she splashed her feet in the water. "I guess she shot one into the tree that I was in and Suicine caught it to protect me."

"A miko?" Usagi replied. Her blue eyes stared at the arrow and studied the spiritual power laced around the weapon. "You're lucky you have a shard to protect you from being purified," she told the wolf. A small glisten on the middle of Suicine's forehead to reveal a shard Usagi had taken from her gem and gave to the wolf to protect in case they run into a houshi or a miko and she wasn't around. Hanging around Kohana's neck was another piece of shard. While they don't get any special power boost as they would've with the shikon no tama, they will be protected from any means of forceful purification, or in youkai's terms, termination.

"Hahaue, I'm done!" Kohana cheered. She plopped down beside her surrogate mom and stared at her hairstyle, which was the old style of the pigtails. "Hahaue, I like how you did your hair," she said, "Is my hair done just like yours?"

Usagi hummed a bit. She ran her hand through the her daughter's hair and said in a sad tone, "Somewhat. If done differently, it would look like Chibi-Usa's hair. The rabbit buns on each side of the head rather than together and then pigtails rather than leaving the hair down."

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Kikyo lifted up her hand for her youkai pet to land back on; from its memory, she was able to see what had happened. "A ningen hahaue and a youkai mesume?" she wondered silently to herself. What she couldn't get out of her head was the crystal she saw on the two youkai. They weren't the shikon shards that Naraku was searching for, but they weren't something that should be overlooked.

They didn't hold the same presence of drawing attention of power hungry forces as the shikon did, but they do hold some kind of power that might prove to be even stronger than the cursed jewel. As if it wasn't enough, she had sensed Naraku's hell wasps spying on the young female, meaning that the dark hearted hanyou sees a significance in her and a possibility of using her in one of his schemes.

Kikyo shook her head and continue on to the shrine. If Naraku does end up using the blond, it's got nothing to do with her. But somewhere deep in her mind, she couldn't help but think that she was connected by this strange being, not by physical contact, but perhaps by knowing someone dear to each of them. She shook her head yet again and narrowed her eyes. The only one dear to her would be her aged younger sister, Kaede…and the hanyou she had hoped to pledge her entire eternity with.

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Usagi watched as her child went to sleep, snuggled up against the side of the wolf. Her blue eyes then traveled to the trees. "It appears that one of our spies has left," she said softly to the still awake, but not caring wolf. He just stared at her with a look that said, '_Well do something about the other one_.' Usagi rolled her eye and just waved her hand in the direction of the insect. She glanced at the waters with a sad look in her eyes as she whispered, "Why can't I shake off this feeling that something bad is going to happen?"

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InuYasha was lying on a sturdy branch, staring at the moon. His clawed fingers toyed with the jewel he keeps close to his body. "Something bad is going to happen," he whispered, "I just know it." He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, clutching to the fragment, praying that nothing bad would happen to his sister.

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(a few days later)

Kohana was rejoicing for the break they were taking along the river bank. Her mother had met with the kind wolf leader, who had quickly left yet again after reassuring her that he would be back for her, whatever that meant. She ran along the shoreline, feeling the blunt gray rocks pressed against the soles of her feet as she laughed. With a great leap, she jumped into the river and began splashing along. She motioned for Suicine to come over to play with her, but the large wolf had no intention of having another bath.

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Not to far away, just farther west of the riverbank behind several large boulders, Rin was playing in the waters, trying to catch some fish and then letting them go. Her beloved Sesshoumaru-sama had left her there along with Ah-Un and Jaken to accomplish an errand elsewhere. Rin glanced over at Jaken and Ah-Un to see them sleeping and pouted. She was hoping to be able to play with one of them, or rather play with the two headed dragon or torment the green lizard.

She knelt close to the waters, but not too close to get her clothes wet, and pouted at her reflection. "Rin is bored," she muttered, "Rin hopes Sesshoumaru-sama comes back soon." Her ears perked up when she heard laughter coming not too far from where she is. Being the usual curious self, Rin stood up straight and walked in the waters towards the sound.

Placing a hand on the boulder, she peeked around the corner and watched as Kohana ran around the fishes. She watched with a smile on her face as she observed Kohana calling the wolf, who was blatantly ignoring her, over to play with her. Her brown eyes widened with excitement when she saw Kohana create a large green leaf out of thin air; the pink-haired girl used the leaf to scoop up the water and immediately dumped it over the wolf. She laughed out loud at the sight of the wet canine, causing the two to look in her direction. Being conscience about herself, Rin quickly hid behind the rock.

/-/

Suicine got up on all four legs and shook himself dry as Kohana stared curiously at the place she last saw the girl. "Who is that?" she asked the wolf, who stared at her for a second before going back to drying himself. She pouted at being ignored and turned her head to the boulder. She walked over to the place and stared at Rin. "Konnichiwa," she said, smiling gently.

Rin couldn't help but think that this child has pretty hair and just grinned, replying, "Konnichiwa."

"My name is Kohana. What's yours?" the hana youkai asked.

The raven-haired girl replied, "Rin." She stared at the wolf and asked, "Is that your pet?"

"Suicine's not a pet," Kohana said, "He's a member of the family." She placed her clasped hands behind her back and continued, "Hahaue helped give birth to him, so I guess he's more like a brother." She stared at the two sleeping youkai. "What are you doing here?"

"Rin's waiting for Sesshoumaru-sama. He told Rin to stay here," she replied. Her brown eyes stared at the river shyly as she asked, "Do you want to play with Rin?" Kohana nodded her head and grabbed Rin's hand. Forgetting all about her two protectors, Rin ran down the river and played in the waters, splashing around and occasionally helping Kohana getting the wolf wet yet again.

They continued to play until Suicine began to walk away. Rin looked curiously at the wolf and then at the young youkai who chased after him. "Where are you going, Hana-chan?" she asked, getting out of the water.

"It's Lunch time," Kohana replied, "Does Rin-chan want to eat with us?"

"Is it okay?" Rin asked.

Kohana grabbed her hand and pulled her gently in the direction further north. "Of course. Hahaue wouldn't mind the company, in fact she would love it," she said. Wanting to meet this mother she heard so much about, Rin nodded her head and followed along, the two youkai stationed to look after her was forgotten as the two friends talked the adult figure in their lives.

(1) daikon: is similar to a white radish, looks like one only a bit wider and white.


	17. Chapter 16

Ch16

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

**AN**: I'm really, really, really sorry for the long wait. Every time I tried to continue the story, I would get sidetracked or held up.

I had written a one-shot HP story called "Love by Letters". If you have no problems reading about a female Harry Potter and haven't read the story yet, please do so, it is on my profile. If you have read the story, please review if you haven't and tell me what you think of if.

I had also began a story that's has crossovers with the main storyline of Naruto called "Tengokugakure". Please read the warnings in the first chapter before reading the rest of the chapter. If you enjoyed that story, then please review it and tell me.

* * *

"Hahaue!" Kohana cheered, running over to her mother as she pulled Rin along. Rin watched in amazement as, in her opinion, the most beautiful person, after Sesshoumaru-same of course, looked up in curiosity at her. "Look, I made a new friend!" she said excitedly, "Can she stay for lunch?"

Usagi hummed slightly before answering, "I suppose, but did her parents say that it's okay?"

Rin looked down with dejected eyes. "Okaa and otou died a while ago," she said.

Kohana gasped before hugging her tightly. "You poor poor thing," she said, "I know how you feel. Okaa-sama and otou-sama died not too long ago too!" She turned to Usagi with Rin still clutched to her chest and declared, "Hahaue, let's take Rin with us! We can't leave a little girl all by herself."

Rin shook her head and said, "No, Rin's not alone." She smiled softly as she continued, "Sesshoumaru-sama saved Rin. Sesshoumaru-sama looks after Rin."

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Usagi repeated.

Rin nodded her head excitedly that she could talk about her beloved guardian. "Sesshoumaru-sama is very strong! Jaken-sama said that Sesshoumaru-sama is going to build an empire and that nobody could beat Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"This 'Sesshoumaru-sama' wouldn't happen to be a youkai, would he?" Usagi asked.

Rin nodded her head as Kohana asked, "Hahaue, do you know him?"

"Not personally, but I have heard of a 'Sesshoumaru'," Usagi said. She took the fish away from the fire before they burned to a dark and tasteless brown color. "Of course everything I hard tend to be bias since he hates this Sesshoumaru," she said.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is very strong!" Rin repeated with a mouthful of fish. Eagerly swallowing the fish, she continued, "The only reason why a lot of people don't like Sesshoumaru-sama is because they can't defeat him in battle!"

"Oh?" Usagi looked a bit interested at this enthusiasm. "Did this 'Sesshoumaru-sama' tell you this?"

Rin shook her head. "Jaken-sama told Rin. Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't say a lot, only if he's telling Rin and Jaken-sama what to do," she explained.

Kohana stared at her mother and asked, "Hahaue, you can beat this Sesshoumaru, right?"

Usagi shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Hana-chan," she replied. She stood up and dusted the pale blue kimono she wore. "You two stay here with Suicine while I go ward this area for the day."

"Hai," Kohana said, going back to eating the fish.

"Ward?" Rin repeated with confusion.

Kohana nodded her head excitedly. "Hahaue's amazing! She's like a miko and a warrior all in one!" she said with pride. The two friends smiled at each other, both equally happy with their guardians and continued eating as they talked about their loved ones.

/-/

Sesshoumaru arrived in the area where he had dropped off his ward where she could entertain herself and get food if she was hungry. He wondered just why he kept the child around; children are very vulnerable, especially ningen children. Why does he tolerate this one child when he had declared his open hatred towards their kind since he was young? Maybe it was because, unlike everyone around him, Rin looks at him with no fear.

When Sesshoumaru landed on the riverbank, he immediately knew that something was wrong; whenever he went off and returned, he would always hear his name coming from his ward, but today there was silence except for the snoring coming from the green toad. He looked all around and spotted Jaken and Ah-Un sleeping in the shades of some trees. He took the two-headed staff that was leaning on the tree and with great accuracy, managed to knock Jaken off the dragon's back and into the river.

Jaken immediately woke up when he splashed into the river; he quickly sat up, spluttering, "Who dares do that?" He narrowed his eyes and looked around, only for his head to spin when he saw Sesshoumaru staring at him with a blank look on his face. "Sessh-Sesshoumaru-sama! You-you're back!" he shouted. He immediately jumped out of the river and began to bow his head as he groveled and apologized.

Ignoring the apologies thrown at him, Sesshoumaru examined the area once more. "Jaken," he said, causing the green frog to stop, "Where is Rin?" Finally realizing that the young girl he was supposed to be watching isn't there, he began to sprout out excuses that she was there before he nodded off and that he didn't hear any suspicious sounds. Sesshoumaru ignored the excuses and heard a familiar laughter coming not too far from where he stood. He headed over to the rocks, stepping on the prostrated toad. He glanced over to see his ten-year-old ward seated on the ground talking to a child he had never seen, but could tell based on her scent that she was of youkai blood. Deciding to make himself known, Sesshoumaru started to walk over to them, simply stating, "Rin."

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Rin was listening to Kohana telling her of something she had witnessed a human man do to get her mother's attention, only to have been embarrassed when he got hurt and have Usagi heal and reprimand him. By the look on Kohana's face, Rin knew that they were thinking the same thing; the idea of a mere human trying to woo Usagi is strange, since in their mind, Usagi deserved someone much better. Keeping the thought to herself, Rin couldn't help but think that Sesshoumaru-sama would do a wonderful job as Usagi's husband; if they do get married, then Rin would have a mother and father again.

Rin heard her name being called and turned to see Sesshoumaru standing there with a passive look on his face. She stood up and gasped happily, "Sesshoumaru-sama is back!"

Sesshoumaru just stood there and continued to stare at Kohana, who just stared at him back with a blank look on her face, with a calculating look in his eyes. He only took a single step forward when he heard a growl; calmly, he observed a wolf had never seen before leap in his way, snarling at him, as if daring him to step forward. He stared with calm golden eyes and lifted up his right hand, whose fingers began to flash green.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, stop!" Rin pleaded. She ran in front of Suicine with her body with open as a shield. Kohana had stepped up beside the wolf and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sesshoumaru remained still, but kept his attacking pose.

"Hana-chan, is everything all right?" Usagi ran back out of the forests when she felt someone had entered the area; she immediately froze when she saw the human-like youkai standing in front of them. Her blue eyes blinked as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "I'm guessing that you're the Sesshoumaru-sama Rin was talking about," she said with soft smile.

Rin nodded her head with a large grin on her face. Usagi began to circle around Sesshoumaru with a thoughtful look; taking notice of the long silver hair and golden eyes. "Interesting," she murmured, stopping to stare straight into his eyes.

Sesshoumaru looked into the blue eyes that stared into his. From the scent coming from her, he can tell that she's not a youkai, but she's not a full ningen either. He had never seen anyone who can look directly into his eyes with no hint of fear or need to attack him. He managed to pick up several scents clinging onto this young body, but the main ones that captured his attention were the ones belonging to the two youkai standing beside his ward. There were even the slight scents belonging to the leader of the wolves who had attacked Rin before her joining him and of his half brother.

"You worthless ningen!" Jaken's voice echoed in the air. The green toad youkai had watched this human invade his master's personal space with no respect and was not happy about that. He scurried over to Usagi, who just looked like she was trying to hold back a smile, and felt insulted. He lifted up the staff and tried to swing it at her, but as he was about to swing it down, he felt something holding him back. Jaken tried several times to dislodge the staff but failed; hesitantly, he turned around to see a large wolf holding the staff in place with his jaw. "Hey, let go!" Jaken demanded, only to be swung gently side to side and then flung back into the river.

"Suicine, that's not nice," Usagi scolded. She shook her head at the wolf, who whined and hung its head down slightly, but Jaken and Sesshoumaru saw something that resembled a smirk on his face. She turned to the two youkai and asked, "May I ask what I may help you with?"

"Rin," Sesshoumaru said in his usual stoic voice.

The ten-year-old ran over to Sesshoumaru and stood by his legs. "Sesshoumaru-sama, Hana-chan and Usagi-sama let Rin eat with them!" she said excitedly. Rin pointed to Kohana and said, "This is Kohana-chan, she's my friend and really nice; she's a youkai just like you, Sesshoumaru-sama!" She then pointed to Suicine and continued, "That's Suicine; he's like Ah-Un, only he's a wolf and Ah-Un is a dragon!" She then pointed to Usagi and continued, "That is Usagi-sama; she's Kohana-chan's okaa-san! Kohana-chan said that Usagi-sama is very strong and very powerful, but Rin thinks that Sesshoumaru-sama is the best. Usagi-sama cooks really good, much better than Jaken-sama." ("You ungrateful brat!" Jaken screamed from his place at the river.)

Usagi laughed as she shook her head. "It's not all that great, Rin-chan," she said, "Just a few ingredients that could be found everywhere." She glanced over to Sesshoumaru and asked, "Would you like to join us?" Sesshoumaru just stared at her for a second, before he turned his head and ignored her.

Usagi just shook her head at the youkai's stubborn belief of superiority as she watched Rin and Kohana playing a game with each other when she felt her heart stop in terror. Deep in her mind, she could hear Kagome's voice screaming in fear, "InuYasha!" despite how far away they were. Usagi quickly stood up as the two little girls along with the other youkai stared at her, wondering why the sudden movement. "Sesshoumaru-sama, may I ask you a favor?" Usagi asked, not looking at the noble youkai.

"Why would Sesshoumaru-sama do anything for…"

"And what is it that you wish from this Sesshoumaru?" the inu youkai asked, interrupting Jaken. He ignored the gaping face of the toad and took in the pale face of the young woman.

"There's something I need to do," Usagi replied. She turned around and headed for the wolf, who stood up on all four legs. "Until I return, can you watch Hana-chan for me?"

Jaken laughed. "Ha! What makes you think that Sesshoumaru-sama would…"

"You have til tomorrow to return or this Sesshouamru is leaving with the child," he said, once again interrupting the gaping toad. He watched as Usagi nodded her head in agreement before throwing a leg over Suicine's back and vanishing into the forest.

Jaken stared at in shock with wide eyes and a open mouth. "Sessh…Sesshoumaru-sama!" he shouted in disbelief, causing the tall human form youkai to stare at him with his usual blank eyes. Jaken ran over to stand in front of his lord as he asked, "Why are you doing what that worthless ningen asked? What good will it do for you?"

Sesshoumaru kept silent, he himself not knowing why he had agreed to it. Perhaps it's his curiosity of this woman that's making him do this. He could've just leave the child or take her with im, but seeing how tight the girls are with each other, he couldn't leave without the young youkai because of Rin and he couldn't take the child with him because of Usagi. All he can do is wait for her to come back.

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Usagi watched as the sun began to set and quickly leaned forward, whispering in Suicine's ear, "Hurry." Suicine followed with Usagi's order. Usagi grabbed onto the locket hidden under her outfit as she silently prayed, "Yasha-kun, please be all right." She closed her blue eyes and felt a pull from the shard she had given to her brother; with the location of the shard found, Usagi relayed the information into the shard Suicine has so he would know where to go.

In what seemed like an eternity, the two had reached an area of a forest that looked like a bulldozer came by, which was technically impossible since they were five hundred years in the past. And there she saw InuYasha and his friends battling something that looked like a mix of several different animals; its body was similar to a bear, with two dragonheads, the arms were long and covered in scales with sharp claws in the end, and there was a long lion's tail. InuYasha and his friends weren't looking as well as Usagi had hoped, but they were still looking strong enough to continue fighting.

It was then she noticed that nobody was paying attention to the tail, whose hair looked more like a spike; at first the tail just swished around and didn't seem very important, but the minute that InuYasha had his back towards the monster to warn his friends to move, with quick motion, the tail charged right up to the distracted hanyou. 'Yasha-kun, look out!" Usagi screamed, jumping off of Suicine's back into the line of interception.

InuYasha turned in horror to see the monster Naraku had created had his tail to graze into Usagi's side and then wrap itself tightly around her body, hoisting her up in the air. "Aneue," InuYasha whispered in shock. At the sound of his sister screaming in pain, he shouted, "NO, ANEUE!"

TBC

AN: O-oh! InuYasha just spilled the secret he's been keeping, what is he going to do? And more importantly, how is everyone going to react to the history between the two? Find out next chapter!


	18. Chapter 17 EDITED

Ch17

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

**AN:** A reviewer had pointed my mistake on the way Ryu had cremated Usagi, so I edited that part. You can just skip down to the bottom of the chapter or read the whole thing, it is up to you.**  
**

**Bold**: what is occurring in the past

(Last Time)

_It was then she noticed that nobody was paying attention to the tail, whose hair looked more like a spike; at first the tail just swished around and didn't seem very important, but the minute that InuYasha had his back towards the monster to warn his friends to move, with quick motion, the tail charged right up to the distracted hanyou. 'Yasha-kun, look out!" Usagi screamed, jumping off of Suicine's back into the line of interception._

_InuYasha turned in horror to see the monster Naraku had created had his tail to graze into Usagi's side and then wrap itself tightly around her body, hoisting her up in the air. "Aneue," InuYasha whispered in shock. At the sound of his sister screaming in pain, he shouted, "NO, ANEUE!"_

(Now)

Everyone stared on in shock at what had just came out of InuYasha's mouth. "A-aneue?" Kagome repeated. She glanced over at Usagi, who was still in the creation's grip, and asked, "She's InuYash'a onee-chan?"

InuYasha ignored the question. He gritted his teeth and growled angrily at the filthy youkai who had dared harm his sister. "You…teme," he snarled. He ran over to the mismatched creature with his sword raised up, only to get smacked into Miroku.

"He-he-he," a deep growl chuckled from the creature, "Naraku would reward me handsomely for this woman."

"Why would he care for a ningen woman?" Miroku asked, helping InuYasha to his feet.

"The main weakness of the hanyou that has been a thorn at his side," was the reply, "Not to mention, he has been experimenting on who this woman really is."

"You really don't believe I'll allow some power consumed monster to learn everything about my powers, do you?' Eyes turned to see Usagi glaring angrily at the creature, whose tail was still wrapped around her body. Blood was trailing down and creating a puddle of deep red on the floor.

"I thought you would've already passed out by now," the creature stated, "You're no ordinary ningen." His creator had told him to bring the woman back alive using any means necessary. An evil grin appeared on his face. His tail tightened its hold on the blonde, causing her to wince at the pressure on the wound at her side. In one quick swoop, the creature slammed his tail onto ground, knocking Usagi unconscious when she hit her head on the floor.

Suicine growled as he jumped over and began to gnaw at the tail. He immediately grew frustrated when his fangs wouldn't penetrate through the tough skin.

"Aneue," InuYasha shouted. His gold eyes flashed red for a quick second as he shouted, "Teme! Let my aneue go!"

Just then the two shards at InuYasha's and Suicine's possession blinded everyone, causing them to cover their eyes. Though nobody could see what was going on, their ears were able to hear the monster Naraku had created scream in pain as if somebody had poured acid all over him. When the bright light had vanished and allowed everyone to finally see, they were all shocked to see that they were no longer in the middle of the forest, but in a village instead. Not only that but Usagi was missing as well.

"Where are we?" Sango asked, looking around to see that many of the people passing by were all nobles and of the rich.

Miroku studied the people and wondered why nobody was reacting to InuYasha's presence or at how they had automatically appeared in the square.

"This place…" Kagome heard InuYasha whisper in shock.

Kagome turned to see the silver dog hanyou running off in a direction. "InuYasha, where are you going?" she shouted. When he didn't answer nor look back, she chased after him with their friends and the blue wolf following.

"Kagome-chan, where's InuYasha going?" Sango asked.

"I don't know, but I think InuYasha recognizes this place," was the reply.

As InuYasha ran through the village, he anxiuosly thought to himself, "How…how can this be?" he stopped in front of a large familiar house by the water. He could hear his name being called out, but instead of answering back, he entered through the doorway and froze when he saw the two familiar females staring at a young infant.

"InuYasha!" Kagome shouted, bursting into the house, "At least answer me when I'm…talking…to you…" Her voice had trailed off as her eyes widened when she saw a familiar woman.

InuYasha just stared on with wide trembling eyes. The last time he had seen his mother was when Sesshoumaru used her image to find out where their father had hid Tetsuiga.

**Five year old Usagi stared in fascination at the baby in the princess's arms. She couldn't understand just why the other villagers looked at the baby with such hatred and disgust. Her mother had told her that they were just too scared of changes while her father told her that they were just plainly stupid. "Ne…Izayoi-sama, what is his name?" she asked.**

"**InuYasha," the princess replied in a soft tone. She smiled lovingly at the sleeping infant. "His father gave him that name before…" Pausing for a second, she looked up at the curious child. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked Usagi.**

"**Can I?" Usagi exclaimed excitedly. Anxiously her arms curled around the infant as the princess laid him down. "Izayoi-sama, he's beautiful," she whispered, "It's just as how kaa-sama and otou-sama said inu youkai would look."**

**Izayoi looked on at the two children, one was hers and a hanyou and the other was the last heiress to the infamous clan. It was a good thing that the Tsukino clan resided in her hometown otherwise her beloved child will grow up isolated and hated. "Usagi-chan, can you promise me something?" she asked**

"**Hai, Izayoi-sama?" Usagi asked.**

**Izayoi took a deep breath and sighed. "If anything were to happen to me, can you promise that you'll look after InuYasha for me?" she asked cautiously, as if worried that the small child would say no.**

**For a second, Usagi looked as though she was upset at the request. "Of course I would!" she declared, "You didn't have to ask me, Izayoi-sama." Cradling the tiny baby closer, Usagi continued, "After all, the older siblings always have to look after the younger ones."**

**Izayoi couldn't help but grin at the self declaration from the child, already adopting her son into her family. "I just pray that I don't die too early before InuYasha is ready," she thought to herself in sadness.**

Everybody stared on at the events that had just occurred. Kagome was about to step forward and comfort the hanyou, who looked like he was ready to cry at the sight of his mother, when a huge gust of wind blew by, causing everyone to shield their faces. When the win had stopped and allowed everyone to see again, they noticed that time had fast forward when they saw a slightly older InuYasha. They all watched with saddened eyes as the motionless body of Izayoi was placed into a deep hole.

"**Okaa-san!" a child-like InuYasha cried out, sobbing at the lost of his mother. His cheeks were bulged out as he shut his eyes tightly, tears falling down his face. "Okaa-san, please wake up!"**

**A sixteen year old Usagi knelt down beside her surrogate brother and held him tightly. The small child struggled against her grip; his sharp claws slashed the sleeves of her kimono and dug deeply into her arms. Usagi ignored the pain in her arms and just held onto him tightly. She turned the sobbing child around and felt him nuzzling his face into her chest. "Shhh, it'll be okay, Yasha-kun," she whispered softly into the silver dog ears on top of his head.**

"**Okaa-san…okaa-san is gone ,aneue," InuYasha sobbed into her chest.**

"**Hai, she is," Usagi whispered, "But I'm here for you." She looked down to see his pleading gold eyes. "No matter what, I'll be there with you." She hugged him tightly so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes. "No matter what, we're family."**

Shippo looked towards InuYasha. He had never seen the inu hanyou so depressed, not even when he had forced Kagome to return home and blocked the well. He could understand why he was upset since when his mother had passed away, Shippo had wanted nothing more than to just hide in his father's arms and cry his eyes out.

When another gust of wind blew by, everyone knew that they were going to see another time in InuYasha and Usagi's life together. As they looked around, they noticed that they were standing in a small yard near the river. They watched as a slightly older Usagi was washing the clothes in the river as the still child-like InuYasha was splashing away happily in the stream.

InuYasha heard something coming and turned his head. When he saw who it was, he began to growl angrily. "InuYasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked, hearing him growl. Everyone turned to see where he was looking to see a young man dressed clothes seen on those who are wealthy.

**His precious aneue had kept her promise and stayed by his side, he even got to move in with her, despite what everyone else was saying. InuYasa was splashing in the waters when an unfamiliar scent rose in the air. He stopped playing and stared at the noble walking up. "Who is that?" he wondered to himself, "Aneue's friend?"**

**Usagi looked up when she heard the splashing stopped; following her younger brother's line of sight, she spied the stranger walking towards them. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she stood up and asked, "May I help you?"**

"**You are more beautiful than the rumors say you are," the young man said. His dark brown eyes stared at her adoringly. He knelt down on one knee and declared, "You must be my wife. You'll never have to work another finger for the rest of your life, living in complete luxury and comfort. All you have to do is this one little thing."**

**Usagi disliked the tone in his voice. He reminded her of the many men her mother had once told her about, the many suitors who came for her hand in marriage, only to be turned away. Just what is with these men who believed that every woman would drop everything they hold dear in order to live the rest of their lives in extravagance comfort? She rolled her eyes and turned to InuYasha. "Yasha-kun, get out of the river and dry yourself. It's almost time for dinner," she told him.**

"**Hai, aneue," he said, waddling out of the river. Sitting on the floor, he shook the water droplets out of his hair and clothes, similar to a dog. He sneaked a peek at the man, who was still kneeling on the floor and looking at his sister like she was a goddess herself. Then for a quick second, he could see the disgust in that man's eyes when he glanced at him.**

**Usagi watched as InuYasha quickly hurried into the house, as if his tail was on fire. With the way his ears were pressed tightly against his head and the slight shivering in his body, she knew what had happened, and it wasn't because he was cold and wet. An unpleasant look appeared on her face as she looked back at the man in front of her. "And let's just say that I want to live that kind of life, what do I need to do?" she asked, fully knowing what was going through this man's mind.**

**This confident man ignored the disgust Usagi was showing towards him, instead a smug grin appeared on his face as he said, "All you need to do is to get rid of that filth and you can be my bride."**

"**I'm sorry but if you want to take me as your bride, then you'll have to take Yasha-kun into the family as well," Usagi said. She stood up and gathered the wet clothes. "And if you can't do that, then I'm afraid that I have to decline your offer."**

Everyone couldn't help but laugh at the flabbergasted expression on the lord.

**The lord had heard rumors of how this young goddess would refuse those who tell her to get rid of the small hanyou she had adopted, but he was so sure…so confident that that she would say yes. While he was in complete shock at this woman declining his declaration of marriage, his servant shook his head and gently ushered him back to his carriage.**

When he had left the scene, the whole group had entered the house, where they saw the child InuYasha crying on Usagi's shoulder.

"**Now, why are you crying, Yasha-kun?" Usagi asked. **

"**Because…because…" he sobbed, clutching to her shoulders tightly. "He wants to marry you but you have to leave me behind! I don't want you to leave me!"**

**Usagi laughed. "Oh, silly Yasha-kun," she whispered. She rubbed her cheek against his silver locks. "I would never leave you if I can't help it. I promised you, remember?" The small child nodded his head as Usagi dried his tears. **

"She must've really loved you to stay by your side, InuYasha," Kagome said softly.

A small sad grin appeared on InuYasha's face. "She gave up everything for me," he whispered, "Her freedom, her time, even her dream was given up for me."

The scene then began to change with InuYasha, still appearing to be the same age that was asleep on a futon.

**As InuYasha was asleep under the thick futons Usagi had tucked him in, his ears twitched at the sharp sounds of the village's alert bell ringing and the screams coming from outside and his nose also twitched when there was a strong burning stench of smoke and blood. He immediately woke up and cautiously walked over to the front door where he saw Usagi standing there, looking out in concern. "Aneue, what's going on?" he asked.**

**Usagi, hearing his voice, turned around. "Yasha-kun, I need you to hurry into the forest right now," she said in a firm tone. She quickly closed the door and rushed over to her younger brother.**

**Just then the door was blasted open and several of the bandits stormed into the household. The leader was a rugged looking man with long black hair and cruel looking black eyes. There were blood stains on his armor and on the blades of the sword hanging at his side. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he asked to his men.**

**Usagi pushed InuYasha behind her. "Who are you and what do you want?" Usagi demanded to know. Even though she was just a human, she could smell the fresh blood on this man's body and if she could smell it, then it must be worse for her younger brother.**

**The group of thieves all laughed. "We are just humble bandits, doing our job of plundering and causing destruction everywhere," the leader replied, "We steal treasures from all around and recently, we had heard of a specific treasure that many men had tried to claim but failed that is in this village."**

"**Treasure?" Usagi thought to herself in confusion. The only treasures she could think of where those valuables found in the homes of the rich lords and she has never heard of men coming to this village to claim it.**

"**The most beautiful and elusive woman found throughout the land," the leader clarified.**

**Usagi's eyes widened in realization to what kind of treasure they were referring to. Her blue eyes glanced over to her trembling brother, who was clutching onto her tightly in fear. **

"**The only problem is that the reason why no man has ever claimed her before has always been the same," he said. His men began to fan out in the room around Usagi and InuYasha.**

**InuYasha did not like the look in these men's eyes, it reminded him of those countless men who had came to court his sister, but with a much blood thirsty aura surrounding them. "Aneue," he muttered, trying to hide his face in the skirt of her outfit. **

**Usagi bit the bottom of her lip. "What should I do? I can't attack these men without the possibility of harming Yasha-kun too," she thought to herself anxiously.**

**Taking advantage of her distraction, one of the bandits grabbed InuYasha, causing him to scream, "Aneue!" He tried to pull away in vain.**

"**Yasha-kun!" Usagi was about to take a step forward to help him when the bandit, who was holding him, lifted up a sword to his neck.**

"**Ah-ah-ah," the leader tsked, "No sudden moves or this little brat gets it." Upon seeing the surrendered look on Usagi's face, the thieves immediately knew that they got her weakness and planned on exploiting it to the fullest. "Now, will the beautiful lady do as we say? Or will her **_**precious**_** little brother have to pay for her mistake?"**

Everybody couldn't believe what they were hearing. While Sango and Miroku knew the dangers there were for the females of this time, Kagome had grown up in a world where there were laws that protected females from things like this. Suicine and Kirara felt nothing but complete disgust at the smell of lust coming from the men.

"**You swear you won't do anything to him," Usagi said, narrowing her eyes at him. She knew that it was no use to trust the word of a bandit, but as of right now, she has no other choice. Her blue eyes studied the man who was holding InuYasha; her mind quickly calculated on what she has to do to get her brother away from him.**

**The leader made a mocking bow at the waist. "Anything our dear megami wants, she will get," he said, "As long as she does what we ask of her."**

**Usagi glared at him. "Swear on your life that you won't harm him and…and I'll do anything you want."**

"**No, aneue…" InuYasha started until that man covered his mouth.**

"**Shut up, you brat! Be grateful that you have such a caring sister," he snarled, "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have mind slitting your throat immediately."**

**InuYasha watched with horror filled eyes as his sister was led away like a lamb to the slaughter. He continued struggling, fearing the worst for his sister. He could care less if anything were to happen to him, but his aneue doesn't deserve anything cruel to happen to her. He quickly grabbed hold of the guy's hand, which was still covering his mouth, and bit into it hard.**

**The minute he felt the sharp canine fangs pierce into his hand, the thief dropped the small half demon. His angry black eyes glared from his bleeding hand to the fleeing child. Promise or no promise, he's going to run his blade right through the abomination. He grabbed his weapon and followed after.**

As everyone hurried to follow the pair, InuYasha stayed behind. Kagome looked back at him all worried. "InuYasha, what's wrong?" she asked.

"This is when…" InuYasha shook his head and dropped to the floor, groaning in frustration.

Kagome looked at InuYasha with sad eyes as she wrapped her arms around him. "What could have happened to cause him to be like this?" she couldn't help but ask herself. She had never seen him this depressed, not even when it involved Kikyo.

**His nose followed the sweet scent of his sister as InuYasha hurried down the hallway. He dove into the room to see two men holding onto Usagi's arms to prevent her from trying anything. "You dirty filthy humans! Leave aneue alone!" he shouted, trying to scratch the arms with his sharp claws.**

"**Yasha-kun, get out of here," Usagi screamed at him. Her blue eyes widened when she saw the man who was holding him captured enter the room. She saw him raise his blade up and was about to bring it down on the unsuspecting child. "Yasha-kun, look out!" she yelled. She didn't even notice when her hands brought out a spark into the two bandits who were holding her, causing them to be pushed back. In desperation, she immediately wrapped her arms around the small hanyou just as the blade came down and stabbed her through.**

When InuYasha and Kagome had finally arrived, they watched just as the blade had entered through Usagi's body. "Usagi-san!" Kagome gasped. Her brown eyes widened when she heard heavy breathing coming her silver haired love interest. She turned to see that he was watching the scene replay as a child and as an adult with tears falling down.

**He was shocked to see who he had stabbed and quickly pulled out the sword, but that didn't stop the leader from decapitating him. "You fool, you ruined our chances of claiming her," he snarled.**

"**Aneue. Aneue, wake up," InuYasha sobbed as he tried to shake his sister to consciousness.**

"**You little brat, it's all your fault," the others snarled. **

Everyone watched as the men were about to attack, they all burst into flames and was disintegrated into ash. Turning to the direction where the attack came from, everyone but InuYasha was shocked to find Ryu no Fuyu, the youkai who would later on attack them and try to claim Usagi as his own.

"**Ya…sha…kun," a soft whisper came through the air. **

"**Aneue," InuYasha sobbed, rubbing his eyes.**

**Ryu immediately wrapped his arms around Usagi, staring at her with broken eyes. "Usagi, don't speak. You need to regain your strength," he whispered softly.**

"**Ryu-san…is here too?" Usagi said softly.**

"**Aneue, don't die!" InuYasha screamed, shaking his head as his hands clutched the bloody outfit. "You can't leave me, you can't."**

**Usagi brushed the tear trailing down his cheek. "Don't cry…Yasha-kun," she said, scolding him gently, "You're…a big boy now…so you shouldn't cry."**

"**Demo," he sobbed, the tears coming down even harder. His dog shaped ears could hear her heartbeat slowing down and it started to frighten him. He had already lost his mother, the only other person who loved and cherished him; if he loses his sister too, then he would be left all alone.**

**Ryu looked down at the wound, where blood continued to spill all over the tatami floors. He couldn't believe that the one person who he wanted to spend the rest of his life was dying in his arms and there was nothing he could do about it. His green eyes flashed into an angry red color for a second as he looked at the piles of ashes situated throughout the home, wishing he had actually done more than give them a quick painless death.**

**He felt Usagi try to move and immediately looked back down on her. He watched as she struggled to get her arms wrapped around the small child. The feeling of jealousy grew within him. She should be trying to regain her strength, not wasting it all on that cause of her death. She should be focusing more on him, the savior of her beloved younger brother, thanking him for her last breath, but instead she's still focused on the one thing that has ruined her whole life and dream.**

**Usagi couldn't move out of Ryu's arms so she settled with pulling InuYasha closer to her. "Shhh…don't cry," she said softly. Even now, she knew that she didn't have enough time and it scares her that she couldn't keep the promise she made to herself that she would live to see her brother grow up. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but it was hard to see with the blurring of her vision. Taking what she knew to be her last breath, she whispered to the crying child, "I…love you."**

Everybody watched with painful expressions on their faces as Usagi's hand dropped to the ground, her head tilting off to the side, her eyes were closed, and her breath had stopped. Shippo, Kagome and Sango immediately attached themselves onto InuYasha and Miroku. Miroku actually comforted Sango with his hands at the appropriate places while InuYasha closed his eyes and tried to ignore the next sentences out of Ryu's mouth, words he knew to be true, no matter how hard his friends will try to convince him that they're not.

**InuYasha rubbed his eyes, trying to pretend that this was all a dream. "This can't be real," he shouted, "I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming that aneue is dead."**

"**This is not a dream," Ryu said softly, he laid the body down and stood up. "She's dead and it's your entire fault." Shakily, InuYasha looked at him. "It's all because you're a hanyou that you couldn't stay with the other inu youkai and because you are weak that she has to protect you. " **

**InuYasha stared at the livid eyes his sister would always protect him from, but she could never continue to do. The angry words repeated in his mind as he stared down at the body on the ground.**

"**If only you were stronger and a full blooded youkai, none of this would've happened," Ryu shouted. As his rage maximized, so did his powers. In one second, he destroyed the house and burned everything around him.**

**Quickly turning around, he walked out of the burning building with Usagi's body in his arms, not bothering to look back to see if InuYasha was following him. When he was outside, he ignored the smell of burning flesh and continued on his way into the forests. With each passing step, other youkai that Usagi had befriended and aided appeared after hearing about her village being attacked.**

**Ryu brought Usagi's body into a large clearing where Usagi enjoyed having a picnic with that abomination InuYasha and put her gently down on the grass. He softly brushed his hand lovingly against her cheek, hating the once warm skin is now cold to the touch. It was strange that if a human is dead, their bodies often turned pale and there is evidence that the person is dead, but even in death, Usagi was still beautiful to him.**

**With sad eyes, everybody watched as Ryu lit a small flame on the grass next to her body and slowly the flames began to eat up her body. InuYasha stayed close to the forest and watched his beloved older sister being cremated.**

**InuYasha began crying and apologizing silently in his heart. "Gomen, aneue, gomen," he repeated over and over again, "You'll see, I'll become stronger and a full blooded youkai," he promised himself, his golden eyes shown with determination, "I'll become a full blooded youkai and nobody will be able to hurt those I care about again."**


	19. AN2 Do Not Worry

I had edited the end of ch17 so you can go back to read it over. Belle86 was kind enough to point out my mistake at the way Usagi was cremated in the past so I changed it.

The next chapter will be up, not sure when, but it will be continued. I am not going to discontinue any of my stories so do not worry.


	20. AN3

To my fellow readers,

Don't worry, this is not a note to tell you that I had discontinued my stories. I just want to tell you that it will be a short while before I can continue the chapters. I know I was already being very slow in updating my stories, but because of a recent event, it might take me a longer time to update.

As you know, Hurricane Sandy had caused a lot of destruction on the east coast, which is where I live. During the weekend, I was told that there was a mandatory evacuation where I live and had to go to a family friend's house. Thank god that I took my laptop and hard drive because just twelve hours later, my neighborhood got flooded and our first floor got filled with water halfway.

So now, it's not just work and school that's making me update very slowly, but also the cleaning I have to do with my family in cleaning out the water, sand, and destroyed objects. Because of this, I have even less time in continuing the chapters so you might have to wait even longer for me to bring up a new chapter.

I am truly sorry about this, everybody, but the good news is that hopefully I will be able to update my stories soon when this whole thing is over. Again, I am **NOT** discontinuing my stories, they're just on a very long hiatus.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and being faithful readers,

Sapphire11224


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